Red Like Roses: A RWBY Rewrite
by Mr. Stuff Doer
Summary: This is a complete rewrite of the popular animated series RWBY. Many moments of the show have irked me, and I chose that I wanted to show how I would've thought it would be better. So yeah, that's it. Not for people with strong theories or headcanons. Some seemingly pointless things will be changed. This is Rated T but some dialogue and fights will be bordering on M rated.
1. Prologue

**I'm not a huge RWBY fan. The series has its good moments, but as a whole, I wouldn't call it good. And I mean the entirety of the show, not just the recent volumes. That would be why this rewrite exists.**

 **I'll say it again despite it being in the description: If you have theories or headcanons, you may not like this because it will involve things that may go against what you think, it may even go against the canonical story. So that would probably also bug some people.**

 **As for ships, I'll avoid them for a while, but they may come in later, and they may not be the ones you like. I'll likely add in some original characters later on as well.**

 **It will mostly be told in Third Person P.O.V., and I'll make it pretty clear when it isn't. Anything in bold is being said by me, and isn't part of the story.**

 **If you're a f*cking idiot, there will be spoilers.**

 **RWBY is the brainchild of Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth.**

 **Reader discretion is highly advised.**

 **Oh right, one more thing. Because this a rewrite, I have to stick to many of the things set by the show. I'm can't change the basic things in the series that make RWBY what it is. Plot details, character writing, weapon and outfit designs, certain aspects of lore, and more will be different than the show.**


	2. Chapter 1: Ruby

"Legends. Stories that have been scattered over the ages. Mankind has grown fond of recounting events long past, the exploits of old heroes and villains; they forget so easily that we are the remnants and byproducts of this past.

"Man, like most things, was born from dust. They were the first to be so strong, wise, and resourceful. However, the world of Remnant that Man was born into was an unforgiving one; there was a great evil within the world. A dark, destructive force. The creatures of Grimm. They attacked mankind and all their creations with a vicious brutality. They clashed against mankind in great battles; they seemed to be entirely focused upon bringing mankind's brief existence to an abrupt end.

"However… just a small spark of hope could light the fires from which mankind could rise to power over the Grimm. Man's drive, resourcefulness, ingenuity, and most of all, their heart, led them to find this spark; a small thing with a strength allowed them to rise above their attackers. A power they chose to appropriately name… Dust.

"The strength of these small crystals allowed mankind to wield nature as their weapons. Along with this, utilizing dust unleashed a power that would be shared by all things with a soul. Aura. A powerful shield that would protect humanity and more from darkness. An aura could heal, shield, or be used offensively by mankind. Along with this power came another.

"Semblance. Unlike aura, the ability a semblance would give its user is almost always different; many semblances are entirely unique, although some are genetic, and some are similar to others. Each semblance gives the user something they could not achieve on their own, even with the power of dust. The strength that aura, semblance, and dust gave mankind was leagues greater than the strength of the Grimm.

"Mankind used these gifts to light their way through the darkness, bringing strength, civilization, hope, and most importantly, life.

"But… in the end, even the brightest lights flicker and die. And when light leaves, darkness will always return to take what it could not before.

"So, mankind, you can prepare your guardians. Your heroes and warriors. You can build your monuments to your so-called "free world." But it would do you well to take heed… that there will be no victory in this strength."

"Well, perhaps victory can be found in the simpler things you've long forgotten. The things that require a smaller, kinder, more honest soul."

Roman Torchwick walked down the street with a gang of men following. Those standing near them backed up, giving them a wide berth as they walked towards the general store and dust shop, From Dust Till Dawn.

As they walked in, Roman took out his cigar. "Do you have any idea how many dust shops aren't open this late? Because it's quite a few, let me tell you that," he said to the shopkeeper. As he finished, one of his men raised his gun towards the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper raised his hands, terrified. "P-please, just take the Lien and leave! I won't do anything!"

"Sh-sh-sh-sh-shhh. We're not here for your money," Roman said. He looked towards his men. "Grab the dust. Make sure no one else is here."

His men opened a case with several empty canisters. A few men grabbed them and brought them to the dust-dispensers, while another one put a box on the counter. "Crystals," he demanded of the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper obeyed, shaking in fear.

A couple of the men searched the store for others. One found a girl in a black skirt and red hood looking at a magazine.

He walked over a pulled out his sword. "Hands in air, girl!" he demanded.

The girl ignored him and continued to read her magazine.

The henchman grabbed her shoulder and pulled her to face him. Her hood fell down as he did so. He saw she had headphones on.

"Hey!" she yelled as he yanked them off and again demanded, "Put your hands in the air!"

The girl reached for her headphones, but the man put the blade up to her. The girl looked around and saw the other henchman. "You're robbing this place. Oh."

She pulled a red object out from behind her and knocked the man back with it. He dropped her headphones, and she picked them up; she pressed a button on them, and they folded down into a much smaller object that she clipped to her belt.

As the man stood back up, the girl hit him once again, and the man flew back and crashed down next to the others at the entrance.

Roman sighed and motioned for others to go deal with it.

The first man over pulled out his gun, yelling "Freeze!"

In response, the girl lifted the device and pulled a trigger. A bullet flew and hit the man, and when he flinched, the girl hit him with the device, sending him flying out of the shop's window and into the streets. She quickly ran over and jumped out after him.

She put her foot down on his back as she clicked a button on her weapon. "You gonna leave?" she asked the man on the ground. The man heard mechanical clanking above him.

"If you got your damn foot off my back I'd consider it!" he growled.

He pushed himself up, causing the girl to lose her footing momentarily. Using the end of her weapon, she steadied herself. The man turned and saw her holding a full-size war scythe.

"I wasn't paid to deal with huntresses," the man muttered before he ran off.

The girl hadn't noticed Roman telling his other goons to get her, and the quickly surrounded her, all the bystanders backing up even more.

The first goon to charge was quickly knocked away with the back of the scythe's blade, and as the others closed in, she brought blade low and the shaft high before spinning in a circle several times, tripping and knocking away several more goons.

A couple were left standing, but she quickly took them out with a couple shots and swings.

As the last one skidded to a stop in front of Roman, he sighed in disbelief and annoyance.

"You were worth every cent," he said to the man at his feet. "Truly, you were." Police sirens were starting to get close. Roman took out his cigar crushed it with his cane. "Well, Red," he said to the girl, "I think you can agree when I say it's quite the eventful night. However, as much as I would certainly love to stay and chat, this is where we'll be parting ways." As he finished, he raised his cane and the bottom popped up, revealing a sight for a gun.

He fired a red blast which the girl jumped to dodge. She was momentarily staggered, and had to look around before seeing Roman was heading towards a ladder to get to the top of a building.

The girl ran to the broken window of the shop.

"You alright?" she asked the shopkeeper.

He nodded with an accompanying "Uh-huh."

The girl nodded and chased after Roman. He was nearly at the top by the time she reached the ladder. She jumped, using her semblance to fling herself up to the top.

When she landed, Roman turned, and groaned when he saw her. "Persistent," he muttered.

Someone else was climbing the ladder, and they were almost up, from what Roman was hearing. He yanked out a scroll.

"Little bit of problem. I need you up now," he said into it.

Before the girl reached him, a Bullhead aircraft rose up in front of Roman, the doors open for him to walk in. He grabbed one of the holds on the ceiling and looked at the lady walking out off the ladder in an exasperated face.

"We've got a huntress!" he yelled towards the cockpit. He turned back to the girl. "End of the line, Red!" He took a red dust crystal out of his pocket and threw it at her, followed by a blast out of his cane again.

The girl threw her arms out in front and covered her head in a futile attempt to defend from the explosion that followed. However, the huntress who'd climbed up after the two had made it in front of the girl. She had put up a circle of protection, guarding both of them from the explosion.

She lowered the circle and fired a barrage of purple blasts, knocking the ship around as Roman took the ship's controls from the pilot while she walked out to where he had been before.

The huntress summoned a storm above the ship before firing ice crystals down onto the ship. The unknown person on the ship hid in the shadows, her clothing glowing as she flung a fireball below. The huntress blocked it with relative ease. The silhouette raised her hand, and the huntress moved herself and the girl out of the way as an explosion rocked the building, originating where the two had been standing.

The huntress moved the debris together into a spear, firing it at the ship. The silhouette blasted it apart, only for it to reform and nearly hit the ship; Roman narrowly dodged the spear. Strange circles with symbols surrounded the silhouette and fired outward, disintegrating the pieces that made the spear.

More symbols appeared beneath the feet of the two on the rooftop. They jumped away as another explosion tore a hole in the roof; when they got back up, the door to the Bullhead was closed and it was beyond their reach.

After watching the ship fly off, the girl turned to the huntress. "You-you're Glynda Goodwitch, the huntress, right?"

The woman turned to face the girl, clearly not pleased about the events that had just occurred.

In a pleading and overly-excited voice, the girl begged, "Can I have your autograph?!"

* * *

In a small room, the girl sat at a table with her head low as Glynda paced back and forth on the opposite side, looking at street cam footage of the girl's fight with Roman's henchman.

"Young lady," Glynda said, "I hope you know that your actions tonight will not be taken lightly. You put both yourself and others in great danger."

"They were the ones robbing the store!" the girl replied.

"Yes, and that's why if it were up to me, I would have you sent home with a pat on the back… and a slap on the wrist!" She whipped her wand down where the girl's hands were. The girl yanked her hands back with an scared noise. "However… someone here would like to meet you."

An old man walked out into the room, holding a plate of cookies and a cup of coffee.

He set the plate down on the table in front of the girl. He looked at her face for a moment. "Ruby Xiao Long, I believe?"

The girl nodded.

"You… have silver eyes. A very rare trait…"

"Um…" Ruby wasn't sure how to reply.

The man quickly moved on. "So! Would you mind telling us where you learned to do this?" He gestured to Glynda, who showed a clip of the fight from earlier.

"S-Signal Academy?" she said awkwardly.

"They taught you to use a war scythe, one of the most dangerous weapons designed?"

"Well… it-it was one teacher in particular."

"I see."

Ruby cautiously picked up one of the cookies and ate it. By the time the man continued, she'd eaten half the cookies on the plate.

"I've only seen a few others use a scythe as their weapon. Even fewer who do it with exceptional skill. The best one being a dusty, old, crow…"

"Mm!" Ruby exclaimed through a mouthful of cookies. She swallowed the cookies and continued. "Do you mean my Uncle Qrow?! He's a teacher at Signal. Before he started training, I was really bad at fighting, but now I'm all: 'Hooowaaah! Witchaaaa!'" she said while making karate-like poses.

"So I've noticed," he replied. He took a seat on the side of the table opposite Ruby's. "So you go to a school designed to train warriors; where do you plan to go from after finishing there?"

"Well," she started, "I really want to get to Beacon Academy so I can become a huntress."

"You want to slay the Creatures of Grimm?"

"Yeah! And I only have to get through two more years at Signal before I can move on and apply to Beacon!" Her enthusiasm and talking speed increased continuously as she continued. "See, my sister Yang is starting there this year, and she's trying to become a huntress too. Our parents always taught us we should help others, and if we become huntresses, it'll be our career to help others! I mean, we could if we joined the police too, but huntsmen and huntresses are just so much more exciting and cool and romantic and awesome, you know!"

Glynda gave Ruby a look of what could only be described as mild concern, while the man just smiled slightly.

"Do you know who I am?" he asked Ruby.

"You're Professor Ozpin. The headmaster at Beacon," she answered.

"Indeed."

"It's nice to meet you," Ruby said.

"So, you wish to come to my school?"

"Absolutely; more than anything."

Ozpin looked at Glynda, who rolled her eyes with a sigh.

"Well alright then."

* * *

Ruby stood in the ship, looking out the window and listening to her music. She had been avoiding talking with any of the others on the ship. She knew she was going to stand out like a sore thumb around everyone else, and didn't want to deal with it until she had to.

A sudden force crashed into her from the side, knocking her headphones off and almost knocking her off her feet; she regained her footing and realized Yang had tackled her into hug.

"I can't believe my baby sister is coming to Beacon with me! This is the best day EVER!" Yang yelled in excitement.

"Please stop…" Ruby pleaded as she got more and more crushed.

Yang released her sister from her hug of death. "But I'm just so proud of you!"

"It was nothing, sis; I just beat up some bad guys and they let me in," Ruby replied while grabbing and putting away her headphones.

"How is that nothing?! That's incredible! Everyone at Beacon will think you're the the coolest! That you're the bee's knees!"

"I don't want to be the coolest! I don't want the "bee's knees." I just want everyone to see me the same as the others: a normal girl with normal knees."

"Come on, what's up with you? Aren't you excited?"

"Of course I'm excited," Ruby replied. "It's just…" She sighed. "I've gotten moved ahead _two years_. People are gonna think I'm special and stuff."

"But you _are_ special," Yang said, putting her arm around Ruby's shoulder. When she saw Ruby was looking in another direction, she followed her gaze and saw a news station. It showed a mugshot of a man with orange hair, the name "Roman Torchwick" underneath.

As the news continued to talk about Roman's activity, and later another White Fang attack, Yang turned to Ruby. "That Roman guy the guy you beat up?"

"I think he was the leader of the group," she replied.

The news feed was cut off, being replaced by the hologram of Glynda.

"Hello," she said, "and welcome to Beacon Academy. My name is Glynda Goodwitch. You will being arriving at the school shortly. Please exit the ship in an orderly fashion; upon leaving the ship, follow the teacher who will be waiting for you all to arrive. They will lead you to where you need to be."

The holograph disappeared.

Ruby wandered back over to the window, with Yang following.

"Signal's over there," Ruby pointed to the academy she'd seen earlier. "I guess home isn't too far away."

"Beacon's gonna be our home now," Yang told her.

"Yeah, I guess…"

The two noticed a blond boy in a set of armor put his hands over his mouth and stumble around, probably looking for the trash.

"Well…" Yang said. "Guess the view isn't for everyone."

"It was a nice moment while it lasted," Ruby replied. Looking back out at the nearing Beacon Academy, she thought aloud. "I wonder what kind of people we'll meet. Aside from… vomit boy…" she looked over at the boy who had reached a trash can. Ruby turned back before she saw what happened next.

"Eww…" Yang commented. "Glad he could make over there instead just dumping it on the floor."

Ruby shivered at the thought. "Gross gross gross gross gross gross gross gross gross gross gross gross gross gross gross gross gross gross!"

Yang chuckled and looked on as they arrived at the school where the two would be spending the next several years. It was so surreal and exhilarating to think about.


	3. Chapter 2: The Shining Beacon

Everyone on the airship crowded the exit as they flooded out into the paths leading to the massive academy. The blond boy the girls had seen earlier rushed out past everyone, leaning against the nearest wall, clutching his stomach and groaning.

Ruby and Yang were totally speechless as they got the full view of the massive Beacon Academy.

As they were forced forward by the continuing crowd, Yang said, "And I thought it looked big from the airship. "

"Yeah," Ruby agreed as they continued to marvel at the building.

As they continued onward, they saw some of the upperclassmen walking around, some carrying their weapons with them.

Ruby immediately exploded in excitement, grabbing Yang's arm and pointing to many of the different weapons.

"Look, Yang! That guy has arm blades! Oh! And that one has a massive sword! Look at that! Ohmygosh is that a dust infused jacket!? I wonder if that guy's short swords do anything else!" She squealed in delight before Yang pulled Ruby's hood down over her face.

"You never stop talking about any weapons you see, do you?" she asked.

Ruby pulled her hood back up. "Obviously! Our weapons are a part of us! Like an extension of our body! They're just so freaking cool!"

"With all the time you spent on yours, I'm surprised you're not satisfied with it."

"Of course I'm satisfied with mine; it's my own creation! But it's always cool seeing new weapons… much better than actually meeting people…"

Yang lightly bopped Ruby on the head with the side of her hand. "You're gonna need to meet people at some point while you're here."

"Why? I can just hang out with you, right?"

"Well, I actually told my friends I would meet up with them when I arrived, so I have to head off right now!"

Yang dashed off.

"Wait, where are we supposed to go? Is there a main hall? Dorms?" Ruby sighed. "She's gone."

* * *

Ruby sat on a bench she had found, absentmindedly swinging her legs and vacantly looking at the ground.

"I should really find out where to go…" she said to no one.

"You're lost too, huh?"

"Hm?" Ruby looked up at the voice, surprised. She hadn't noticed the blond boy from before walking around near her.

"I feel like we were supposed to go somewhere, but I think I missed the announcement," he said with an awkward chuckle.

Ruby looked back to the ground. "That makes two of us, then," she muttered.

The boy sat down on the bench Ruby was on.

"Aren't you the guy that threw up on the ship?" Ruby asked with a small smile.

He gave another embarrassed laugh. "Wish I could be remembered in a way other than 'the vomit boy.' It was just motion sickness, though. It's a much more common problem than most people think!"

Ruby chuckled. "Well, 'Vomit Boy' was kind of the first impression you gave."

"My first impression of you was being alone on a bench."

"Fair point…"

They sat in silence for a while.

"Just… so you're not permanently calling me 'Vomit Boy,' my name is actually Jaune. Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue, lad―um… nevermind."

Ruby raised an eyebrow. "Were you going to say 'ladies love it'?"

"No!" Jaune protested. "Er… maybe… okay, yes."

Ruby chuckled awkwardly. "My name's Ruby Xiao Long."

Not knowing how to respond without sounding dumb, Jaune stayed quiet.

A little later, they heard voices nearby.

"You two know we need to be in the main hall in a few minutes, right?" A girl's voice.

"I've been trying to tell her that, but she's not coming without stopping to talk or look at something every 10 seconds." That was a boy's voice.

"Well, why don't the three of us head down together?" Same girl as before.

"That sounds like a great idea. Come on already, Nora. We really can't miss this on the first day here."

"But there's so much to look at!" said a very energetic sounding girl.

"We'll get plenty of time later," the other girl said.

Despite one not sounding happy, it sounded like the three were coming over to where Jaune and Ruby were sitting.

"Did they say main hall?" Jaune asked Ruby.

"I think so…"

"We should follow them; they seem to know where it is." He got up and started to follow the other group as Ruby got up and hurried to follow.

* * *

The three they were following eventually arrived at a door leading into a large area where a massive group of people had gathered. Many were sitting, but an equal amount were still standing or finding a seat

Jaune noticed Ruby scanning the area. "Looking for someone?"

"Yeah, my sister… Oh! There she is! Yang!" Ruby exclaimed as she ran off.

"Hey, wait!... and she's gone." Jaune sighed. "Guess I'll go find a spot…"

He wandered around a bit before settling in a spot. Everyone around him was chatting with the people they sat next to, which was pretty distracting to Jaune.

"What happened to the girl you were with before?" someone to his right asked.

He looked over and was surprised to see one of the girls they had been following there. "Um… you knew we were following you guys?"

The girl smiled. "There weren't any other people around; we were bound to notice the two of you at some point along the way."

Jaune chuckled awkwardly. "Yeah… that makes sense." He noticed the two she was with before were gone. "Where'd the two you were with go?"

"Nora ended up wandering somewhere on the other side of the room, and she dragged Ren with her." She chuckled. "Something similar with you?"

"Huh? Oh, right. Ruby ran off to find her sister, I think."

"Well, I suppose it was lucky we bumped into each other, then."

"Yeah, I guess." Jaune looked at the girl for a moment. "I feel like I know you from somewhere…"

The girl looked somewhat saddened by him saying this. "I… I wouldn't particularly be surprised. I'm… somewhat… famous… but I really don't like thinking about myself that wa―"

"You're the one on the boxes of Pumpkin Pete's!" Jaune exclaimed.

The girl stared at him for a moment, somewhat dumbfounded. She blinked a couple of times before smiling, leading into a chuckle, which then led into a laugh.

"Um…" Jaune stared at her.

As she calmed down, she wiped at her eye and said, "I'm-I'm sorry, it-it's just people don't usually know me from that. Most know me from some of the bigger things I've done. Winning tournaments or other things."

"So it is you?!" Jaune asked.

"Yes, I'm Pyrrha Nikos."

"I-uh… um…"

"Please just think of me like anyone else here," she told him. "After all, that is all I am. Just another student."

"Um, well… uh-it-it's nice to meet yo-you, Pyrrha. I'm Jaune. J-Jaune Arc."

"That's a nice name," Pyrrha replied. "Nice to meet you."

 _Holy crap, they do like it!_ Jaune thought.

Their conversation was interrupted by Professor Ozpin walking up to a microphone on a stage in front of them.

He pushed his glasses up a bit before speaking. "I'll... keep this brief. You have come to this school in search of knowledge, the knowledge to hone your craft and acquire new skills. When you have finished your time here, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people."

Ozpin paused a moment and scanned the room. "Currently, I look amongst you, and all I can see is wasted energy. Energy that is in need of purpose... direction." The students whispered amongst themselves a bit after this.

"You assume knowledge will give you this, but your time at this school will show you that knowledge can only carry you so far. It will always be up to you... to take the first step."

Ozpin stepped back as he finished, and Glynda came up in his place. "As you leave this area to the doors to on the sides of the room," she said. "After marking yourself as being here on any of terminals at any of the doors, you can explore the school, relax, or meet with your friends for the remainder of the day. Tonight you will all be sleeping in the ballroom. You'll be expected there by 10 P.M. at the latest. You are dismissed."

Back where Ruby had met up with Yang again, Yang asked Ruby, "Did he seem out of it, or was that just me?"

"Yeah, he seemed weird, kind of like he wasn't fully here…" Ruby replied.

"Whatever! Let's go log in or something!" Yang started walking to one of the doors, Ruby following after.

* * *

Ruby looked over as Yang fell down onto the mattress next to the one Ruby was laying on. The massive ballroom had mattresses lined up all throughout, along with blankets and pillows on each one. Sort of makeshift dorms for the first night.

"It's like a big slumber party!" Yang exclaimed as she plopped down.

Ruby looked around briefly before pulling out her scroll, saying, "I don't think dad would be happy with all the boys here, though."

"I know I am~" Yang said.

Ruby just sighed in response.

Yang looked over at her sister. "Whatcha doin'?"

"I'm messaging with some of the friends I had back at Signal. I promised them I'd tell them about what Beacon is like."

"Awwww, that's―oof!" Yang was silenced by Ruby tossing a pillow at her face.

"Shut up!" Ruby pouted. "I didn't get to come with any of my friends like everyone else…"

"You just need to make new ones, like that Jaune guy you told me about."

"I also told you I ended up ditching him." Ruby sighed. "Doubt he'd want to be my friend after that. And you know how hard it was just to make the two friends I had at Signal… not to mention I'm so much younger than everyone else here." She closed her scroll and set it aside, grabbing one of her comic books from her bag.

"You brought those with you?" Yang asked, amused.

"Of course I did! I need something to do at times like this…"

"If you're worried that people are gonna judge you for being younger, I don't think reading comics is gonna help much," Yang told her with an amused look.

"Shut up," Ruby pouted.

The two continued their small talk for a while before deciding to go to sleep, awaiting the day ahead.

 **I'm putting this story on Fanfiction, Wattpad, and the RWBY Amino, and each may have things the other ones won't (I'll might do polls for some stuff in Amino, and do additional author's notes on Wattpad and Fanfiction), so if you really like what I'm doing, you can check out all of them.**

 **My Wattpad name is TheStuffDoer, and my Amino (and Fanfiction) name is Mr. Stuff Doer.**


	4. Chapter 3: The Thornless Rose

**Ah, shoot, I'm already blowing up the canon story with this chapter. Can't wait to see all the hate I'm bound to get.**

Ren slowly opened his eyes from sleep to see a scene not uncommon to him at this point.

"Waaake up, lazy butt!" Nora exclaimed.

Ren groaned a bit as he pushed himself up into a sitting position, still waking up.

"It's morning! It's morning! It's morning! Iiiiiit's morning!" Nora sang to no one in particular.

Ren sighed as he got out of bed and grabbed his bag. He started off towards the changing rooms, Nora following him closely.

"Can you believe we've really been at Beacon for almost a day?!" she asked. "I mean, I didn't think we'd get kicked out or anything; you're like, the perfect student and I'm… I'm me, you know?"

"Nora, you may want to get your own stuff and go to the _girls_ ' changing room," Ren commented.

Nora realized he was walking into the boys' changing room and she was still in her pajamas. By the time she realized, Ren had already gone into the changing room.

She was done changing and was waiting for him before he had even finished changing.

As he continued out to the lockers, Nora rushed back to his side again.

"But still, it's just crazy, you know? We get to stay in such an awesome place for the next few years, and we get to go on teams, and fight Grimm, and participate in tournaments, and―"

"Are you going to grab your weapon?" Ren asked, interrupting her. He had already put his bag in his locker and retrieved StormFlower.

"Oh, we're going to be fighting stuff, right?!" Nora said, going to grab Magnhild.

"It's likely, considering the announcement yesterday," he replied. A message had been sent to all new students' scrolls the previous night, informing them they would be getting teams and would need their combat gear for the next day.

"Oh, I'm so excited! What do you think we should do to make sure we get on a team together?! I wonder how it's decided? You think they toss us into a Grimm-filled area and the first people we find are our team members? I bet that's how they do it, I've heard stories about that. We should think of a sound to use so we can find each other. Oh! How about a sloth?! Can you imitate a sloth?"

"Nora?" he asked in response.

"Yes?"

"I'm pretty sure sloths don't make much sound."

Nora pondered the meaning of life for a bit. "Well, that's why it's PERFECT!"

Ren smiled as he continued on to the main hall to get breakfast, Nora continuing to follow and talk energetically.

"Man, she's really excited about this," Yang commented as she watched the two pass.

"I think that's her being calm," Ruby replied.

"You know her?"

"I heard the two of them yesterday," she replied as she pulled Crescent Rose out of the locker. She hugged it momentarily putting it on its connector on her belt.

"You seem cheerful," Yang noted as she finished putting on the inactive Ember Celica.

"Of course I am," Ruby responded. "Today, it's no more meeting people and getting lost. Today I get to let my sweetheart do the talking." She gestured to her scythe.

"Yeah, but we're getting teams."

Ruby flinched. "Yeah, well I… I could just be on your team, right?"

"Maybe… you should try being on someone else's team?" Yang said awkwardly enough it sounded like a question.

Ruby stared at her. "What… what are you implying?"

"I-I don't know, I thought it might help you to be on someone else's team… that you might manage to meet some new people or… something…"

Ruby fumed. "I don't want to meet new people! I'll stand out too much to talk with them…"

Yang tried to recover the situation as the two headed towards the exit.

Along the way, Ruby noticed Jaune pacing around, seemingly caught up in his own thoughts. She looked away, figuring he would've been upset with her after she left him alone yesterday.

As Jaune walked back and forth, he muttered to himself, "Where was that dumb locker!? I thought it was 100-something…"

Pyrrha approached Jaune as he continued his ramblings. "Um, Jaune?" she asked.

He turned to face her, snapping out of his semi-trance. "Oh, uh, hey Pyrrha."

"Is… something wrong?"

Jaune sighed. "I forgot my locker number…"

"Didn't you have somewhere in the 630's?" Pyrrha said, thinking back to when they had parted ways at his locker the previous night.

"600?!" exclaimed Jaune. "There's no way, I would've remembered having to count that high… wait, 630… that's right! It was 636!"

Pyrrha smiled as he hurried off to his locker. She followed him over, watching as seemed to put in the wrong code several times before finally managing to open it.

A white-haired girl walked up to Pyrrha as she waited for Jaune to get ready.

"Would I be correct in believing that you're Pyrrha Nikos, four-time winner of the Mistral Region Tournament?"

Pyrrha turned to the girl with a mildly surprised look. "Y-yes, that's me. You're Weiss Schnee, correct?"

The girl nodded proudly. "Indeed," she said. "I was wondering if you'd given any thought to who you wanted to be on a team; I'm sure someone as skilled as you must be able to get anyone they want."

"Well, I really hadn't thought much about it yet. I was thinking I'd just let the pieces fall where they may; it always seems to work out best that way."

"Well, I was thinking we could being on a team together. What do you think?"

"I think it sounds like a grand idea!" Pyrrha replied cheerfully.

"Great!" Weiss said. What she said internally was slightly different.

"What's great?"

Weiss jumped a little at the voice from behind her. She turned and saw Jaune, who had finished getting his stuff.

"We were talking about being on a team together," Pyrrha explained.

Jaune stared at her. "What are these teams again?"

Weiss gave Jaune a brief unimpressed look before turning back to Pyrrha. "Should we find each other again after breakfast?"

"Sure," Pyrrha replied with a nod. Weiss began to walk away after nodding happily. Pyrrha turned back to Jaune. "The teams we get today will be our partners and our roommates during the time we're here, if what I've heard is correct. Some teams will stay together to go on missions, but others may split up after their time is done at Beacon. Did you not hear or read about these things anywhere?"

"Uh… no…"

"Well, the teams are four people each, so I can probably help you with this stuff if we become teammates."

"So, uh… I'd be on a team with you and her?" Jaune asked, pointing to where Weiss had gone.

"If it works out that way, yes. I'm not entirely sure how the process to select teams works, though."

Jaune's eyes seemed to light up.

Pyrrha noticed nearly everyone had left. "We should probably head out before all the food gets eaten."

"Oh, right! I'm starving," Jaune said as he began walking off, Pyrrha following close behind.

* * *

"Why are we just wandering around the tables?" Ruby asked her sister. It seemed like they had just been walking in circles for a while, carrying their trays of breakfast.

"I agreed to meet up with a friend from back at Signal at breakfast today. I'm looking for where she's sitting…"

They walked around a bit before the two heard someone call out Yang's name. "Yang! Over here!"

Yang grinned as she ran over to the voice, leaving Ruby to chase after, almost spilling the contents of her tray in the process.

As Yang arrived at the table, she exclaimed, "Well, it's about time you said something!" She took a seat facing a group of four, and Ruby cautiously sat down with her.

The girl who had called them over grinned. "Well, I didn't see you."

"Oh, please," Yang said with a roll of her eyes, "you and I both know you can recognize me just by my hair."

The other girl chuckled. "It's good to see you again, Yang."

"Same," Yang commented. She looked at Ruby, who was making an effort of not getting noticed. "I guess I should introduce you guys." She looped an arm around Ruby's shoulders, pulling her close. "This is my sister, Ruby. Ruby, this is a friend of mine. Her name's Coco; she's a second year here."

Ruby pushed off Yang's arm and scooted back over to her original seat. as Coco spoke up, looking over Ruby. "I remember you saying your sister looked very different from you, but I wasn't expecting THIS much difference."

"Good difference or bad difference?" Ruby wondered quietly.

"Hm… I'm not sure. You're a bit too different to compare," she said with smile and shrug. "On a different note, have you heard they let the upperclassmen see live videos of the first years during the 'team selection process?'"

"Huh?!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Really?" Yang asked.

"Yeah; I know a lot of the people in their last year here like to see it to remind themselves of how they started off. I wanted to see it to watch how you and another new student do, and I think I'll try to see what your sister can do too."

"Who's the other one you were gonna look at?" Yang asked as Ruby seemed to try to turn invisible again.

Coco nodded her head past Yang. "Red-haired girl behind you. Walking around with the blond guy." Yang turned to see Jaune walking around with a red-haired girl, looking for a table. Ruby looked back as well, and when she thought Jaune and her eyes met, she turned back to her meal.

"That girl does look familiar…" Yang noted as she turned back to Coco.

"I'd be surprised if she didn't. It's Pyrrha Nikos. Her coming here has caused a lot of talk throughout the school. The media too. She's quite the prodigy."

"And she's coming to sit with us, it seems," said the girl sitting to the right of Coco. Ruby and Yang had both already noticed she was a rabbit faunus, but knew it would've been weird to bring it up in a place where faunus weren't uncommon. The ears were actually pretty cute.

Coco looked back up at where Pyrrha had been. "So it seems."

"Is it alright if we join you all?" asked Pyrrha from behind Ruby and Yang.

"I don't see why not," Coco replied.

"Thanks," Pyrrha replied.

She sat down next to Yang, the side opposite Ruby, and Jaune sat on the other side of Pyrrha.

Pyrrha looked towards Coco. "You four are team CFVY, right?" she asked.

"I'm surprised you know that," Coco commented.

"You were the most famous team to come to Beacon last year; it stands to reason I'd know your team."

"You guys are really that good?" Yang asked.

"We broke the record for how far a first-year team made it in the Vytal tournament, so I'd say so."

"But you didn't win? I'm disappointed, Coco," Yang claimed with a smirk.

"Yang…" Ruby sighed.

"'Bout time you said something!" Yang said, nudging Ruby.

"Shut up," she muttered.

Jaune leaned forward to see the two. "So, I assume this is the sister you ran off to?" he asked Ruby.

"Huh? Oh, um… yeah," Ruby awkwardly replied. "Sorry about that…"

"Not a people person, huh?" Coco asked Yang. Ruby seemed to shrink further into her seat.

Yang gave her a "what're you gonna do?" face.

Ruby quickly finished what was left of her food and hurried away from the table.

Yang sighed. "She really needs to get over this."

"It might be better if you don't put her in situations with a large number of people she doesn't know," Pyrrha commented.

"I never liked taking the slow route," Yang replied.

"I can confirm that," Coco said with a smile.

As the group continued to talk, Yang noticed Jaune eventually left the same direction Ruby had. She was starting to think Jaune would be the one to get Ruby to open up. It was both a pleasant and disappointing thought.

* * *

"I think she went this way," Jaune mumbled to himself as he wandered off in the direction he thought Ruby went.

He exited the cafeteria into a hallway. As he reached the end, he noticed it split left and right instead of continuing forward. He saw Ruby huddled into the fetal position against a wall in the left hallway. He cautiously walked over.

"Hey… Ruby. Are… are you alright?" he asked.

"I'm fine," she mumbled between her knees. She didn't even look up. It didn't seem like she was crying, at least.

Jaune gently sat down next to her. He said nothing, unclipping Crocea Mors from his belt and setting it next to him. He pulled up his knees to rest his arms on them, his head tilted to the ceiling.

The two sat in silence. The only noise was their breathing and the sounds of the people in the cafeteria.

"Why do you care?" Ruby mumbled.

"Hm?" Jaune turned to look at her.

"Why do you care?" she asked again, louder.

"I...I don't follow."

"You came up to me yesterday, and now you have again, almost the exact same way. Why?"

Jaune looked to the wall and pondered the question momentarily. "I don't know," he admitted. "I think it's because I understand what it's like. Being alone, that is."

"I really look that alone?"

"I mean… curling up against a wall doesn't exactly...I mean, you seem really…" he searched for what he was trying to say.

"Alone," Ruby finished.

Jaune sighed. "I'm not being helpful, am I?"

Ruby mumbled something quietly.

"What was that?"

"Just having company is… nice," she mumbled, a bit louder.

"Oh. So you want to be around people, but you don't know how?"

Ruby nodded in response.

"I can understand that," Jaune said.

Ruby pulled her head away from her knees and looked over at him for the first time since he got there.

"I have a really big family," Jaune explained, "and it's almost all girls. I have seven sisters, so…" He sighed. "I couldn't get along with the boys my age when I started school; I had grown up with too many girls around me, so I had more feminine tendencies. Even when I did know what to talk about and how to act around them, I had already convinced myself I needed to avoid them to avoid being embarrassed or humiliated. I did eventually get a few friends, but when we reached a… uh… a certain age, then they…" He cleared his throat. "… they started having a bit more interest in talking to my sisters than me." He chuckled humorlessly.

Ruby looked back at the floor in front of her. "I'm… sorry," she told him.

"It's in the past, now. Always gotta keep moving forward, y'know?"

Ruby stared at him in silence. He stared at the wall with an expression she couldn't quite describe.

She rested her chin on her knees as she turned her gaze to the wall as well. Time seemed to slow to a crawl in the silence.

A voice over the P.A. system made both of them jump slightly.

" _All first-years please finish eating and gather at the main entrance within the next 10 minutes. I repeat, all first-year students must be at the main entrance in 10 minutes, at 10:00 B.M. Be sure to wear your combat outfits and bring your weapons._ "

 **A.N.: Their time is in B.M. and A.M., short for Before Midday and After Midday. It works the exact same as our A.M. and P.M., however their days are 30 hours long, so the time goes to 15:00 instead of 12:00.**

"Well, I guess we're doing this," Jaune said. Ruby thought he might've sounded a bit nervous. He got up and grabbed his sword and sheath.

He clipped the sheath to his belt as Ruby got up and did the same with her scythe.

"Guess we should start heading over there," Jaune commented.

"Yeah," Ruby quietly replied.

Jaune turned away and began to walk out from the hallway. As he walked, he wondered if he should've come there to begin with. It seemed like Ruby wasn't doing any better than before. For all he knew, he made it worse.

As he walked away, Ruby stayed in place and started to ask if he would be willing to be on a team with her, but she hesitated before she got any words out.

She closed her mouth and looked at the ground in front of her. By the time she looked up again, Jaune was gone.

Even if he somehow had agreed to, she'd missed her chance to ask.

* * *

A few minutes later, Ruby stood behind a large group of students crowded near the main entrance. She tried to see through the crowd to see Yang, but most people there were taller than she was.

After a brief wait, the doors opened, and the students began to funnel through. They fanned outward, and eventually Ruby could see what was in front of them.

Four adults stood in front of all of them. Ruby recognized Glynda and Ozpin, but not the other two. One had messy green hair and glasses, and the other was a larger man with a big moustache. There was a fair distance between each of the four of them.

Glynda stepped closer to the group and spoke with a voice that rolled over all of them.

"Today you will officially become students here. You are going to be getting your partners, teams, IDs, dormitories, schedules, and any other things you will be needing while here. Right now, you will be split equally into four groups. Form groups in front of Director Ozpin, Professor Port, Professor Oobleck, or myself; after that, you may be requested to move to a different to create an equal number in each. Once each group has exactly 16 of you, we will begin. Whichever group you end up in, you must listen to and obey everything your instructor says. Do you all understand?"

There were many bored-sounding responses. Satisfied, Glynda walked back to where she originally was. "Please get into orderly groups in front of one of us now," she said.

Ruby watched as everyone began to walk towards one of the four teachers. She searched intently for Yang, and believing she saw Yang's hair, went in the same direction, towards Ozpin's group.

After a few minutes of evening out the groups, Ruby was still in Ozpin's, and she was almost positive Yang was too.

Each of the teachers nodded to each other.

Ozpin watched as the other teachers spoke to their groups and walked off.

He took a sip from his mug. "Follow me," he stated simply.


	5. Chapter 4: Red, White, Black, Yellow

_**Chapter Four:**_

 _ **Red, White, Black, Yellow**_

As the group walked, Ruby sighed with relief as she saw that it was indeed Yang she'd seen before. Others in the group she recognized were Jaune, Pyrrha, and the pair she and Jaune followed the previous day.

Ozpin said nothing more as they continued, and he only stopped when they arrived where they were going.

There were several large box-like shapes in front of them, each with a different label on them. It was more a box frame than a box; the sides and top were open. They were large enough that almost anyone would be able to fit in them. They all had black dust in them. Gravity dust.

Ozpin took another sip from his mug. "I'm sure most of you have never used or seen one of these before, so I'll explain. This is often referred to simply as a transporter, though the official name is Gravity Dust Transporter. They utilize gravity dust to send people to a predetermined location. We will be going to the Emerald Forest, so make your way into the one labelled that."

Ruby had never seen anything like these before. She hadn't even known they existed. It first sent them upwards, roughly 20 rods into the air. Once there, there were eight separate gravity dust crystals attached to devices; the eight crystals looked like they sat at corners of an invisible cube. They halted the users upward movement and sent them left for a considerable distance.

 **A.N.: Though the rod is a unit of measurement in our world as well, it is the primary measurement unit for their world that is almost equal to two feet. The smaller unit is called a point, and 20 of them make a rod. And yes, I'm fully aware how dumb using "rods" and "points" to measure sounds to us.**

Eventually, they reached an identical "cube" of crystals, which halted their momentum and started sending them down. There was a box exactly like the one that sent them up below that, and they were slowed to a crawl as they touched down on solid ground once more.

As Ruby came out of it, she stumbled and fell onto her back, which had happened to several others who came before her.

As she got up, there was conversation amongst the group about the device before Ozpin stepped in front of everyone again.

"Behind me is the Emerald Forest. As some of you may know, it is filled with many dangerous creatures, though many should not be much trouble for a trained fighter. You are going to be sent into this forest, and you are going to need to fight or sneak your way through."

He sipped from his mug once more, his eyes wandering over the group.

"There is a small temple in the northern area of the forest. There are eight relics within it. It is your goal to reach this area and retrieve these relics. Afterward, you must find your way back here, or at least the area directly below the cliffs here." He gestured to the sudden drop not far behind him.

"Professor?" everyone turned towards the girl who spoke. She had long white hair that was in a ponytail to the side, and Ruby thought she looked like she was rich.

"Yes?" Ozpin replied.

"You said there are eight relics, but there are 16 of us here."

Ozpin nodded. "You wish to know why there aren't enough relics for each of you."

The girl nodded in response.

"As you should know, students at any of the four Huntsmen Academies are grouped into teams of four while they attend the schools. At Beacon, there are also partners as well. When you emerge from the forest, you and your partner will have one the relics. Eight relics for eight pairs."

Ruby had noticed some of the others students had sat down or had stayed sitting after falling. She sat down too, hoping it would calm her nerves at least a little.

"Now, the partner selection process is very simple: the first person you make eye contact within the forest will become your partner. If you have any complaints about the partner you get, talk to me after the exercise and I may switch one of you with one from another group."

Ruby thought she heard a few sighs of relief at hearing that.

" _However_ ," Ozpin continued with heavy emphasis, "a major part of being a huntsman is working with others, even if you don't get along. Therefore, these requests should not be made without proper reason."

He began to walk to his left, and as the group followed him, they saw 16 platforms evenly spaced out. Ozpin stopped walking and turned to the group. "These platforms will be sending you into the forest. After landing, it will be up to you to find your way through the forest; you will not be given any navigation tools." He looked us over again. "If there are no questions, stand on a platform and we will begin."

Most of the group made their way to a platform, but Jaune stayed where he was, acting slightly nervous as he looked to Ozpin.

"Um… sir?" he asked.

Ozpin looked to him. "Yes?"

"So, uh… what did you mean when you said we were 'landing?'"

"These platforms will be launching you into the forest. It is up to each individual to think of their way to land."

"So… um… do we get tips for landing strat―"

"Mister Arc," Ozpin interrupted, "if you do not believe you are capable of this simple task, you are welcome to leave. We have a long list of other applicants for this school who would love to take your place."

Jaune froze. "Um… alright, I'll just…"

He walked over to the remaining platform as several students chuckled.

Ozpin took a sip as he paced between the platforms on the ends. "If anyone else wishes to ask questions or review your objective, this is your last chance." When no one spoke, he took out his scroll, holding his thumb over a button on the screen. "Very well then, you may…" He hit the button. "...begin!"

The sixteen platforms shot all of them into the air, each one with at a different angle and force. The flew over the trees as they began to fall into the forest.

* * *

Ruby Xiao Long considered her options as she descended towards the ground. She thought about firing shots downward to slow her descent but figured the force wouldn't be enough. She did have another idea she thought would work, though.

Once she'd fallen below the trees, she burst into petals, adjusting her trajectory to aim directly for the sturdiest branch she saw. She turned back to normal just before colliding. It knocked the wind out of her, but she managed to get her arms around it.

With some effort, she pulled herself up so she was standing on the branch.

She thought back to the times she would spar with Yang or her dad; she had occasionally avoided them by climbing a nearby tree before dropping down for an aerial attack.

 _Never thought that practice would come in handy_ , she thought as she made her way up.

Eventually, she reached a point high enough she could poke her head over the leaves. She scanned around before looking to the sky.

 _What was it?_ She thought as she looked near the sun. _I know Dad taught me this, which way is it?_ She looked in the direction the sun was closest to. _It rises in the… the…_

She thought back to one of the times her dad taught her different survival techniques in preparation for going to Signal Academy.

" _Remember, Ruby, if it's before midday, the sun will be in the west; if it's after midday, it'll be in the east."_

" _Dad, why do I need to know this again?"_

" _You never know when you'll be in an unknown area with no sense of direction; when that happens, you have to let the sun guide you."_

She wondered if he told her that knowing she'd be here one day; she doubted it, but it was possible.

She looked in the direction of the sun again. _West._ She looked behind her. _East._ She turned 90 degrees counter-clockwise. _North._ She went beneath the trees again, making sure to stay facing north.

She looked for the nearest branch, carefully getting down onto it. She repeated the process until she was on the ground, still facing north.

 _I need to find Yang, but if I go in a different direction, I'll forget which way it is._

She took out her scythe and marked the nearest tree with an arrow pointing north.

 _Now I need to make this visible…_

Remembering another of her dad's lessons, she fished out a clip for her gun with fire dust bullets. She carefully took one out and put the clip back.

She quickly found a large stick and crushed the fire dust against one end. She quickly moved her hand away as it lit up with flames.

Holding the stick with both hands, she slammed it into the ground as hard as she could. Two tries later, it stuck in place.

Ruby backed up, briefly admiring her work.

 _I have no idea how I thought of that_ , she admitted to herself.

Growling and footsteps broke her out of her musings. She turned around as five beowolves approached her.

 _Just what I needed_ , Ruby thought with a sigh, extending out her scythe.

* * *

Weiss Schnee spun the dust chamber in Myrtenaster, selecting gravity dust; as she fell into the trees, she activated a glyph, modified by the dust. It slowed her down and pulled her close. She created a normal glyph below her and dropped down to it, repeating the process until she landed.

She sighed. She was expecting something that seemed more practical from what was widely deemed to be the most prestigious school on Remnant.

She wasn't sure where to start; she didn't how to find the northern area, and Pyrrha and she hadn't exactly had time to arrange a meeting spot.

She sheathed Myrtenaster and scanned her surroundings. There didn't appear to be anything nearby, human or otherwise.

She considered using her glyphs to get above the trees, but quickly dismissed the idea when she realized the leaves were too thick to see anything through.

As she thought through possibilities of what to do, she remembered that she'd heard about upperclassmen being able to watch live videos of the first years during this… "mission," for lack of a better term. She realized it was likely her father and sister had received access to the footage as well. They would both be analyzing and judging every move she made, seeing nothing that impressed them.

She grit her teeth with a closed mouth. They infuriated her. Her entire family did. Whenever she did something good, they'd overlook it, while simultaneously criticizing everything she did wrong. It was almost impressive.

She shook her head. She had to focus on the here and now. She could deal with them later.

The sound of splintering wood made her whirl around. To her disappointment, it wasn't Pyrrha. Or even human.

The massive monster continued towards her, pushing the trees in its path, bending them until they snapped like twigs.

"A Ferocious Beowolf…" she whispered to herself. _Just my luck..._

Weiss unsheathed her rapier.

* * *

Blake Belladonna unsheathed Gambol Shroud just moments after launching, quickly transforming it into its gun form. She unraveled the portion of the ribbon wrapped around her arm, holding it the same hand as her gun.

The ribbon was roughly 5 rods in length and was wrapped in a tight loop around her right arm just past her elbow, reaching towards Gambol Shroud, where it was securely attached right above the where the magazine was held.

Once she made it beneath the leaves, she threw the gun at the nearest branch big enough to hold her weight. It wrapped around the branch twice and hooked on.

Just before the ribbon had fully stretched itself, Blake grabbed the ribbon with her left hand and swung her legs upward, creating a shadow clone immediately after. Her previous momentum was canceled by the creation, her clone propelling her further in the direction she kicked towards.

Her feet went over her in a backflip, after which the ribbon pulled tautly. The pull on her arm made her wince, but it wasn't as bad as it could've been.

She began to swing herself. After gaining enough momentum, she used her clones to further propel her until she was at the branch. She landed on it on her feet and took a moment to balance herself. After that, she carefully moved to where the gun's blade had hooked into the branch.

She yanked it out and unwrapped it from the branch, wrapping the slack back around her arm before turning it into a sword again and sheathing it.

She looked down, gauging the distance to the ground.

Figuring it was of acceptable distance, she hopped off the branch, curling into a somersault as soon as her feet touched. She quickly got back up and brushed herself off.

She scanned her surroundings for any threats. She didn't see, hear, or otherwise sense any presence around her. Safe for now.

She closed her eyes and felt the wind and the small amount of sun that peeked through the trees; she turned to her right and opened her eyes. The northern area should be that way.

She began to head that way in a light jog and thought back to when she learned that trick.

It was a better time then. The three of them had been so close.

" _Alright Blake, close your eyes. Try to feel the world around you."_

" _Adam, you are so full of crap."_

" _Quiet, Ilia, Blake needs to concentrate. Now, Blake, try to tune out all sounds or smells. Just feel."_

It had taken her a couple tries to get it down. It had turned out useful.

 _Adam…_ she thought. _What happened to you?_

She wondered what those two were doing. She wondered what her parents were doing; she never said goodbye to them.

 _I wonder if I made the right decision by coming here…_

A load roar stopped her in her tracks. She turned to her right.

A Grimm was charging towards her. Massive and gorilla-like. A beringel.

Blake took the sheath from her back and pulled out her sword.

* * *

Yang Xiao Long was having a blast. This place was better than she had expected. First day and they were already going to be fighting in Grimm-infested territory!

She brought her gauntlets up to block her face as she fell into the trees, quickly slamming into a tree, her gauntlets leaving marks in the tree. She fell down, doing a backward somersault upon landing, getting back up almost instantly.

"Nailed it," she commented.

She quickly scanned the area for enemies, slightly disappointed to find none.

Ozpin had told them to go north to find the relic, she remembered. Coco's advice made a bit more sense now.

" _When you're told to pick a line to get in, make sure you get into Ozpin's. Based on what I've heard, his is the one you'll enjoy the most."_

" _That depends on if you know how to find the northern area."_

" _You don't know Yang like I do, Velvet. I think it's a safe bet that her instincts will tell her where to go."_

" _You think it's smart to tell someone to make a random guess with this?"_

" _Why not? Not everyone has the navigating talents of a faunus, and Yang's always been one to go by her instincts anyway."_

"Well, what can I say?" Yang asked quietly. She started off in the direction she thought seemed right. _Even if dad says I shouldn't rely on just instincts so much,_ she thought.

She wondered if Ruby was doing okay. It seemed like everyone had been spread out pretty far, so she probably hadn't found a partner yet.

 _If she has, let's hope it was someone like that Pyrrha girl or Jaune. They seemed like decent people. There's bound to be some people in this group that would just make her retreat further into that damn shell of hers._

"This is a lot more boring than I thought it would be," she thought aloud.

Not ten seconds after the thought left her mouth, she saw a massive black figure in the distance. She grinned.

She continued down the way she was going, a little more energy in her steps.

She came to a stop in front of the ursa that had out and had walked into her path.

"Were you waiting here just for me?" she asked it as it swung its arms down in front of her. "That's awfully kind of you."

Yang cracked her knuckles.

* * *

 **A.N.: Weiss mentioned how the beowolf she encountered was a "ferocious beowolf." That's part of a ranking system I made for the Grimm. It's a large expansion of the concept of the "alpha" Grimm types the original series had. Just about any Grimm can reach any of these rankings, which provide a general concept of how dangerous it is. Each rank just means it has lived longer, gained experience and intelligence, and grown bigger and stronger.**

 **The ranks are (from weakest to strongest):**

 **Newborn**

 **Growing**

 **Normal**

 **Mighty**

 **Ferocious**

 **Great**

 **Colossal**

 **Dominant**


	6. Chapter 5: Partners

After he had left the hallway, Jaune met back up with Pyrrha, joining her as she headed over to the main entrance.

"You left in quite a hurry earlier," she said. "Had you forgotten something in your locker?"

"No, it was… something else."

Pyrrha remembered that was also where the girl with the cape had run off in. "Were you going to see if that girl was okay? She was the one you were yesterday, wasn't she?"

"Yeah, Ruby."

"Are you two friends?"

"I… I don't think I'd say that," Jaune said. "I don't know, I guess I'd say we're acquaintances."

"…people who are just acquaintances often don't seem to care so much about each other."

"Well…" he said, "what kind of person would I be if I stood back and left a person to suffer?"

Pyrrha waited a while before she responded. "It's very kind of you to be looking out for others like that."

Jaune sighed. "Maybe, but I don't feel like I know what I'm doing whenever I try to help someone."

Pyrrha looked at him without responding. _He's kind to a fault,_ she thought to herself.

As the two arrived at the main entrance, they waited in silence for the doors to open.

* * *

After Glynda gave instructions to the group, telling them to pick a group to be in, Jaune asked Pyrrha if she had a preference as to which teacher's group she wanted to be in.

"Not particularly," she said. "I'll just follow you."

In the end, they joined Ozpin's group. Jaune thought he noticed Ruby in the group, but wasn't positive.

* * *

After being humiliated by Ozpin in front of 15 classmates, Jaune nervously got onto the only remaining platform. _How do we land?_ he thought to himself. _How is everyone else okay with this?_

He held back a scream as Ozpin launched them off into the forest. He panicked for most of the time he was in the air, not even realizing he was moving slower than he should've been.

He couldn't even think as he flew. He was too busy freaking out.

It was only when he landed did he realize that he had been moving slowly enough the impact wouldn't hurt.

He had landed on his back and stayed there, trying to process what had happened.

He pushed himself upward as he heard footsteps coming towards him. He turned his head towards them.

"Pyrrha?" he asked, more shocked than before. "How… what… huh?"

As she reached him, she offered a hand to him. As he grabbed it and pulled himself up, she said, "Sorry about that; you're lucky we launched in the same direction. I could slow down your fall because of that."

"How did you slow me down?" Jaune said while trying to calm down.

"My semblance. It―"

"Your what?"

"Semblance," she repeated. Jaune looked at her confused. "Do… do you not know what a semblance is?"

"Um… no?"

"Do you know what aura is?"

"It's the thing all living things have that acts like armor or a shield, right?"

"A… simplified version, but fairly accurate. Semblances are a unique power each person has the potential to use."

"You mean, like… a superpower… or something?"

"I suppose, if that's how you want to think of it. My semblance allows me to move around metal objects. Like your armor."

"So that's how you…"

Pyrrha nodded.

"If everyone has one, what's mine?"

"I think you haven't unlocked yours yet. Give it some time, and I'm sure you'll find it." She paused to look around the area. "Right now though, I say we should find our way to the temple."

"Do you know which way is north?" Jaune asked.

"Not yet," she said. "I'll be right back."

Jaune watched in amazement as she raised herself into the air, up

over the trees.

After she got down, she said, "Alright, north should be―"

"That way," Jaune interrupted, pointing to his left.

Pyrrha stared at him. "How… did you figure that out?"

"I checked the weather earlier. It said the wind was going to be blowing south at this time."

"You could've told me that before I went up," she said with a smile.

"Oh, um… sorr―"

"Jaune," she interrupted, "I was joking."

"Oh. I… I knew that."

There was a brief silence.

"Well, should we head over to the temple?" she asked.

"Right!"

As they headed off, Jaune remembered something.

"So are we partners now?" he asked.

"We've made eye contact, haven't we?" she said with a smile.

Jaune smiled back.

* * *

Ren quickly took out StormFlower after being launched, setting them into active mode. He concentrated the majority of his aura into his arms, bracing for the pull they would get.

When in range, he plunged the blades into a tree and threw his legs forward. He held onto the blades as they circled downward on the tree, the forces attempting to pull his body away.

After reaching a safe enough spot, Ren yanked out the blades and retracted them, rolling as he hit the ground.

He quickly stood up and extended the blades once more, surveying his surroundings.

Finding nothing of note, he folded the blades inward and put the weapons away.

He stretched and moved his arms, which were sore after the landing, even with the reinforcement from his aura.

As he wondered how he could find Nora, he heard a loud crashing (possibly smashing) sound along with an excited shout from a girl.

He smiled knowingly. "You never change," he whispered.

It sounded fairly distant, but she had a tendency to be very loud. He swiftly walked in the direction of the sound, being sure to listen and see anything in the area, ready to pull his guns at any moment.

As he came closer to the spot the sound had come from, he heard sounds that led him to believe there was a battle ahead.

He halted where he was until he heard a laugh he knew well.

He ran towards the spot and prepared his weapons.

He soon reached an area where many trees had been knocked down, some even completely shattered; it may as well have been a clearing.

Near the center of the area was a massive snake Grimm which was fighting against Nora.

It seemed she was having way too much fun.

"Nora!" he called out.

Even over the noise she and the king taijitu were making, she heard him.

In less than five seconds, she'd managed to disengage from her fight, run to him, and wrap her arms around him. "Ren!" she exclaimed.

"Hi," he said.

"How did you find me?" she asked.

He quickly dropped StormFlower and grabbed Magnhild out of her hands. He stepped forward as he swung it into the charging king taijitu. It fell to the side, stunned.

He handed her hammer back and picked his own weapons back up.

"Do you mind if we take care of this first?" he asked.

"O-kay!" she shouted with a salute and a smile.

* * *

Ruby charged towards the beowolves. The smallest in the group advanced on her alone. She swung her scythe left, hitting the Grimm with the back of the weapon. It was knocked into the air and stunned. She swiftly spun around, hitting the Grimm in the neck with the blade side. Pulling through on the swing, she cut through and the beowolf's head was separated.

As the body and head fell to the ground, Ruby readied herself for the others. Three were roughly equal in size, and the last one was a bit larger with more armor on it.

Ruby fired a few quick shots from her weapon at the largest one's head as the other three advanced as one.

Two of them lunged at her; she ducked as they went over her. She swung with the back of her scythe as she rose, knocking them to the side.

In the same movement, she plunged the blade into the ground, bring her body upwards, allowing her to kick the third one to the side as well.

A few good shots killed one of the ones in that group, and she aimed to the next one.

She had gotten distracted and forgot about the fifth beowolf until it was swinging at her. She quickly brought her scythe up, cutting off the arm swinging, belatedly realizing it was a feint. The other hand had been coming at her back, and she was too slow to stop the impact.

While it didn't cut through her aura, the Grimm had still swung hard enough that she could feel the impact.

The impact pushed her forward, and she steadied herself by planting the shaft end of the weapon into the ground.

She growled as she brought the blade around, striking an unarmored area in the stomach, catching on it. She launched herself forward with her semblance, slamming the Grimm into a nearby tree. Pulling through on the swing with all her strength, the scythe sliced through both the beowolf and the tree, throwing Ruby off-balance with the amount of force it came through with.

She steadied her breathing as she turned to face the two smaller ones that remained.

Shooting herself forward, she swung her scythe over her head as she reached the first beowolf, hitting with enough force it was instantly split in half.

Using the momentum from the swing, Ruby jumped and spun around, bringing the scythe in a circle as it swung down, bisecting the final beowolf.

She collapsed her scythe and attached it to her belt again, looking at the fallen Grimm around her.

As began to turn to mist and seep into the ground, she took a deep breath.

She looked back to the tree she had carved with an arrow. She looked at the fire she'd set next to it.

 _Who am I kidding?_ she thought. _A tiny flame isn't going to be visible from far enough that enough to get back here._

She sighed as she went in the direction of the arrow.

 _Please be going this way, Yang._

She jogged her way through the forest, weaving in and out of the trees, avoiding thinking about what would happen if she didn't find Yang first.

Maybe she could try to find Yang after finding the temple. Or just wait for her there, not looking at anyone in the process.

A loud noise got her attention. She stopped and looked left; there was a large Grimm charging in her direction.

She went to grab her scythe, but a sudden, white blur came from her right, colliding with the Grimm. Ruby realized it was a girl. She stood on the Grimm's shoulder, and as she stabbed an unarmored area of its head, it faltered. Within a few seconds, it was falling to the ground.

The girl hopped off the Grimm's body and noticed Ruby.

Their eyes met.

 _Crap…_

* * *

Blake jumped to her right, dodging the charging Grimm. After it stopped and turned to her, she ran and dove downward, sliding between its legs, slicing at the insides of them her sword and sheath. Once past it, she jumped to her feet and turned to face it.

The beringel was almost completely unfazed by the attack, quickly turning back to her, one arm swinging. Blake jumped back, leaving a clone enhanced by earth dust in her place.

The creature's arm slammed into the clone, cracking the rock-like substance. The creature roared after it hit, and its arm seemed like it was somewhat limp.

Blake dashed forward, leaping over the beringel and slicing downward on its arm with both blades. She propelled downward by activating a shadow clone the moment the blades touched, giving her the force needed to slice off the arm.

The Grimm roared again and swung with its good arm. Blake dove away from it, retreating to a safe distance.

The beringel grabbed the partly broken shadow clone and threw it at Blake as it began to charge.

Blake ducked under the clone, quickly launching into the air as the Grimm followed the path of the statue.

She let out a clone infused with fire dust, causing an explosion as the beringel slammed into it.

She turned as she flew over the beast's head, slamming down the sword and sheath into its back as she fell.

The Grimm roared as it reached back to grab her; she jumped back, leaving an earth-infused clone in her place. She began to unravel the ribbon on her arm.

The beringel staggered. It tried to keep itself upright, but the sudden weight was too much. It fell backward, breaking much of the clone.

Blake dispelled the clone as she threw the sword into the top of the Grimm's head, lodging it in.

She swiftly moved next to the monster's neck, slamming the sheath's bladed edge against it. She grabbed her sword with her open hand and pulled that as she pushed the sheath harder.

The sheath slammed through and hit the ground. Blake turned in a jump as something skimmed her back, only realizing it was the beringel's falling hand. It had almost managed to reach her.

She put away her sheath and removed the sword from the head that had begun to dissolve into mist, seeping into the ground.

Blake sheathed her sword and took a moment to reorient herself and calm her breathing. After finding north, she continued heading that way.

* * *

Yang jumped as she shot her gauntlets downward, launching herself to a height that allowed her to make a few good shots on the ursa's head.

It seemed to stagger backward, one hand going up to its face.

As Yang landed, she said. "Oh, come on, you've got more than that!"

It took its hand down and roared, slamming its foot forward with enough force that Yang temporarily lost her balance.

Taking advantage of her guard falling, the ursa swung one arm forward; Yang managed to get her gauntlets up to block the hit but was swiftly knocked to the ground as its other hand slammed into her back.

Rolling away from the ursa's follow-up, Yang commented, "That's more like it!"

She stood with a grin.

She ran forward, ducking beneath its arms and sweeping out one of its legs. She quickly spun and fired a shot directly into its back, giving it the extra push it needed to fall forward to the ground.

Yang walked back around to the front. "I was hoping for a bit more, but at least I got something."

She deactivated her gauntlets as the ursa began to push itself upward. She slammed her fist into the side of its head, sending it to a place that Yang doubted was natural.

The impact caused the Grimm to fall back down.

Reactivating her right-hand gauntlet, Yang grabbed the ursa's head with her left. She shouted out as slammed her right hand into the neck with enough force that it almost completely severed it.

She deactivated her gauntlet again, yanking off the head before throwing it to the side with a mildly disgusted noise.

She shook her hands and turned back to where she had been heading.

It took Yang a moment to realize she wasn't alone.

She turned to the figure standing just outside the improvised battlefield. She had black hair with a bow on top and a sheathed black sword on her back. She stared at the dissolving corpse of the ursa before looking to Yang.

There was a moment of silence.

"Don't worry, I'm alright!" Yang told her.

The girl just blinked in response.

 **AN: I'm going to reply to reviews here, so you can skip this if you don't care.**

 **OldDustX: I may not know what the hecc that second half meant, but thanks anyway.**

 **Guest: Though I know I don't have to cater to readers, but I personally don't see a point to making a story if no one else enjoys it. And the reason I am expecting some hate is because, as you can probably tell, I'm focusing much less on the action aspect the series is famous for.**

 **RotWS: I didn't think I'd changed Weiss much yet, but yes, I do strongly dislike her character at the beginning. As for Blake, now you've seen her. The reason she wasn't shown before was because Ruby, the character with the majority of the focus right now, didn't run into her. Seems unrealistic that all of RWBY meets and have talked before even going into the forest.**

 **FifiCici: Why are you excited? That was the prologue where I described what this was, and I've made no fanfictions on this account prior to this. Why are saying that?**

 **: First off, what is that name (actually, what even are any of these names)? Second, you can bet there is going to be interactions. RWBY and JNPR will all become friends over a period of time, not instantly. If you like RWBY for its action and not much else, you might get bored of how much time I'm gonna be dedicating to making some human characters.**

 **KHARAKI TAKAN (was caps lock broken?): It actually makes more sense for Ruby to use Xiao Long than Rose. Yang knew Summer more than Ruby did, so it'd actually make more sense for it to be Yang Rose and Ruby Xiao Long. But that sounds wrong, I'm aware. And don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's never gonna change, it just makes more sense for that now. And I'm gonna be focusing considerably on what is sensible for this world.**


	7. Chapter 6: Observations

**Updates amirite lol. This is probably the longest I'll take for a chapter on a non-officially stated hiatus. Mainly because it's probably the most boring chapter I've ever written. It literally too** **k me an entire year to take the effort to write this because it's so damn boring, hence why I will immediately post the next one so you have something to actually enjoy.**

* * *

There was a brief silence as the pair looked at each other. Ruby's brain was having trouble functioning at the moment.

The girl Ruby stood opposite to wore a bluish-white dress that went down to about where her knees were. The top was form-fitting, the neckline just above the girl's breast, showing a fair amount of her pale white skin. Straps on the side of the open area connected to sleeves; Ruby couldn't tell how long the sleeves were, as the girl wore a bolero over them. The bolero appeared fairly loose in comparison to the dress, and Ruby noticed it had a pattern of alternating bright red and light blue on the inside, a stark contrast to the outside, which matched the dress. The bottom of the dress and sleeve ends of bolero were scalloped and stitched with the design of something resembling a snowflake. She also had a sash or belt of some sort around her waist with a holder for her sword and a small box attached.

She had white stockings on her legs, and she had fancy looking white boots that went up a ways past her ankles. They opened up considerably where her legs entered them, and Ruby noticed they were also bright red and light blue inside.

Her eyes were a light/pale blue, and Ruby noticed a faded scar crossing over her left eye. She had very little makeup on, possibly none, and Ruby would describe her face as a beautiful one, suddenly making her self-conscious of her own.

The girl's hair was whiter than Ruby would've thought to be possible, and the back was tied into a ponytail that was somewhere between being centered at the back and being off on the girl's right side. Most of her bangs were swept to the same side as her ponytail, and just barely reached down to her eyes, and the sides of her hair reached down not much rather than her nose. The ponytail had a strange tiara-like accessory on it, which had spikes that reminded Ruby of icicles, and went down just past her breast.

The sword she was sheathing was a rapier of sorts with some kind of revolving dust chamber, and it seemed like the utmost care was put into its creation.

Weiss looked at the girl who had just wandered into the area she'd fought the beowulf. She seemed unusually young.

The design of her outfit was astonishingly similar to Weiss' own outfit, though it was clearly made by someone with less experience than the people who made Weiss'. It consisted of a knee-length dress, belt, stockings, and boots. The dress had a high collar and sleeves reaching to about her elbows. The top of the collar, ends of the sleeves, and bottom of the dress all had dark red trim on them, which appeared to merely be cosmetic. The belt was black, placed around the same spot as Weiss' sash, and held her weapon, in addition to a box which likely contained ammunition and/or dust crystals. Her stockings were black from where they exited her skirt, and they gained a red hue as they went down into her black combat boots; the boots had red laces, soles, and a trim on top that matched the color on her dress.

The girl had clearly seen a fair share of sun in her time, as her showing skin had a fairly light tan. She had shining silver eyes, short black hair going to her neck with bangs similar to Weiss'; Weiss also noted that red dye colored it near the ends. She didn't seem to be wearing any makeup, and the girl's face Weiss could only describe as young, though she admitted the term "cute" may fit as well. The girl stood roughly the same height as Weiss, and was reasonably muscular, from what Weiss could tell.

 _So I suppose she'll be my partner then, huh?_ Weiss thought.

Weiss approached Ruby and performed a brief curtsy to her. Ruby, momentarily taken aback by the level of formality shown, attempted to mimic the gesture, despite never having done a curtsy before.

"It's a pleasure to meet you; I'm Weiss Schnee," Weiss said.

"Um… I'm Ruby Xiao Long; it—the… it's nice to meet you," Ruby said, her voice barely audible at the end.

The two stood in silence for a moment.

"So, um…" Ruby started, her voice barely a whisper.

"What? Sorry, I couldn't hear you."

"Do… are we planning on going to get one of the artif—reli—the things…?"

"I was just trying to figure out which direction we should head in," Weiss replied, crossing her arms and scanning the area.

"Well… um, it's, uh… it's that way," Ruby said, pointing north.

"Hm… you're sure?"

"Well… I guess? I think it is…"

"Then we should move quickly; I don't want to stay in this horrible place longer than we have to. How quickly can you move?"

"My… my semblance lets me control my velocity, so I'm, uh… I'm pretty fast."

"Good; let's head to the temple then," Weiss said. A glyph formed behind her and launched her forward and up; she landed on another glyph, which repeated the process, and so on.

Ruby sighed in disappointment before launching after her new partner.

 _Hopefully I can get comfortable talking to her quickly_ , she thought to herself.

* * *

Blake, still somewhat taken aback by the sheer brute force the girl had just taken down the ursa with, took in the appearance of her new partner.

She wore a brown/tan jacket that seemed somewhat pointless, as the top half wasn't buttoned, and the bottom was above her navel. The jacket had golden-brown piping and fairly loose and short sleeves; the sleeves had two-button black cuffs on the ends, which were right above her elbows. The buttons were a gold color. She had black fingerless gloves and some sort of object over them. They were yellow with black lines and looked fairly small. Blake guessed they were the girl's weapons, and would expand into something more useful when she needed them to.

From what Blake could see, the girl wore a plain bright yellow shoulderless crop top underneath the jacket, though for all Blake knew, it could've been a way of binding the girl's unusually large breasts.

She wore black mini-shorts with a dark brown belt on them; the belt had numerous pouches all around it. She had orange over-the-knee socks, and knee-high combat boots.

She had golden blond hair, which was curly and went down to her waist; her bangs were so long it would probably be hard for her to see at times.

The girl had a fairly strong tan, blue eyes, no makeup, and an appearance Blake could only describe as an odd combination of masculinity and femininity. She stood a bit taller than Blake, and had an unusual amount of visible muscle for a girl.

Yang's adrenaline was still going a bit from the fight, but she was calm enough to take in her new partner's appearance.

Large portions of what appeared to be a white one piece outfit were visible under her mostly black outfit. The one piece seemed like a skintight outfit that combined a sleeveless shirt and shorts. It seemed to go from her collarbone to just above her knees. Tight black stockings came up and overlapped the ends of the one piece. Her shoes seemed more like an extension of her stockings, being more along the lines of a sock with a hard bottom added to it.

She wore a black vest-like piece over the white piece; the vest wasn't attached with buttons, it seemed to be more like a sleeveless shirt with purple strings in front to tighten it. It had purple piping on all the openings.

The girl's right arm had a sleeve that went across almost the full length of her arm, which Yang thought was stupid considering it could've just been attached to the vest. The sleeve had a black ribbon or rope of some sort that started at the wrist and tightly looped around the sleeve numerous times before it went behind the girl and attached to her sword.

The sword seemed to be attached to some sort of device on her back, which had a strap that looped horizontally around the girl; several pouches were placed throughout the strap, which was set slightly below the girl's breasts.

She had a very feminine face, and Yang thought she may have been wearing a small amount of makeup, but was by no means a professional in that field. She had a bow or ribbon of some kind that seemed to be designed to look like the ears of a cat faunus or something similar. Her hair was short, probably the same length as Ruby's. She had a very slender body, and looked like the type of fighter who relied on stealth and speed over brute force. She seemed to have a bad case of "constant neutral face."

"So, what's your name?" Yang asked the girl.

"Blake." Her expression didn't change at all.

"I'm Yang!"

There was a silence. Yang's initial upbeat demeanor quickly changed.

"Let's just head to the temple," she muttered.

Blake nodded and began jogging off in a direction without any hesitation; Yang hoped that meant she knew where she was going.

"I traded an antisocial sister for an antisocial partner. Lovely," she muttered as she ran off towards where Blake had gone.

* * *

Jaune had never really taken a real look at Pyrrha's combat gear, but as they were currently moving through an empty forest, he didn't have much else to do.

The basic concept wasn't very different from Jaune's; she had clothes designed for mobility and combat underneath her set of armor.

A tight sleeveless red shirt was covered by a golden/bronze chest piece which went down to about her navel. Her shoulders were uncovered, but she had long, tight black gloves which went stopped just above her elbow; she had golden/bronze vambraces over the gloves which went from her wrists to elbows.

She had black leggings that the bottom of the red shirt overlapped the top of. She wore golden/bronze greaves reaching her knees, which led down to boots made in the same style, which seemed to connect perfectly with the greaves.

A red sash or scarf was wrapped around her waist, which seemed somewhat impractical compared to the rest of the outfit, even if it was wrapped tightly. Her collapsed spear and shield were attached to something on her back, which seemed to lock them in place.

Her long red hair was tucked up into an Atlesian twist, likely to keep it out of the way during combat. She wasn't wearing makeup, despite Jaune seeing she had some on yesterday; 17 years with seven sisters meant he knew more than he wanted to about hair and makeup than he wanted to.

She had vivid green eyes and tanned skin, as well as a muscular figure. She was almost as tall as he was; the difference was almost unnoticeable.

What he noticed more than anything, though, was her chest. The breastplate she more was almost completely flat. Considering her regular attire made it clear she was somewhat… voluptuous, Jaune had to assume―

"Jaune, I bind my breasts when I wear combat gear. This is probably true for many other girls you will meet here. So I would appreciate if you didn't stare," Pyrrha said with a mildly disappointed look at him.

Jaune snapped his head forward so fast it hurt. He also managed to trip over his words about 12 times in an attempt to apologize. Pyrrha used the opportunity to get a sense of Jaune's equipment and its quality. It… wasn't great.

He wore a plain black shirt and jeans. A simple white armor piece was strapped onto his torso. A diamond-shape plate covered his front, covering an area similar to Pyrrha's own breastplate. The same piece covered a slightly smaller area on his backside. Similarly designed shoulder guards covered the upper halves of his arms. He wore basic brown fingerless gloves. A sword with a similar design style was sheathed at his belt. He wore standard black running shoes, which seemed to match the completely standard look his outfit had.

His eyes were a deep blue, and his hair an unusually blonde color. He had fair skin and was slightly taller than Pyrrha; he had a mildly muscular build.

"So, uh… are we there yet?" Jaune asked.

 _You can't be serious…_ Pyrrha thought.

* * *

It quickly became apparent to Ren that Nora hadn't actually engaged the king taijitu by the time he arrived. In the time he had bought by hitting it, Nora ran up, hit it once, and followed through with a spin, hitting it once more, completely caving in its head. It must've been a Newborn or Growing.

"Huh? Hey, don't tell me that's it… come on…" Nora pouted at the grimm, absentmindedly kicking it.

Ren returned his weapons to their resting places. He looked over to Nora. He got lucky to find her so fast. The forest had seemed giant from the view they had before.

Many years had passed, but she was still the same Nora.

She wore a sleeveless white crop top, with an annoyingly flamboyant heart-shaped cut out at the top of her chest; her cleavage was somewhat visible through it, much to Ren's… disappointment. A flashy pink skirt, which didn't even reach her knees, accompanied it. Pink and white combat boots, as well as gloves, added even further eccentricity to the outfit. Her short orange hair certainly didn't help her blend in with anything, either. It looked more natural when she was younger, but the tan she'd developed over time contrasted it significantly.

Her bright turquoise eyes always shone with an unusual level of happiness. _Though_ , Ren mused, _that may only be when I'm around_. Nora had a poorly hidden love for him, though she never mentioned it. Ren often felt her to be more of a sister, and sometimes even a daughter, so he wasn't exactly sure he could say he felt the same.

"Watcha lookin' at there, Ren~?" Nora asked with a light air of flirtation.

"Trees," he replied as he moved in the direction of the temple. He was unusually talented at orienting himself.

Nora puffed her cheeks out and started to pout in his direction.

She started running to catch up to him. Even she had to admit, as many good things as he had going for him, he was a terrible conversationalist. Supposedly that was common in his birthplace.

Though, he tended to excel in other things; he was surprisingly fashionable, if you ignored his unusual hairstyles.

His combat outfit was standard white pants supported by a belt which had several pockets for his gear, and well as StormFlower's holsters. He wore a dark green and sleeveless tailcoat with weird diagonal buttoning. The coat had gold and black trimming designed like the patterns in the clothes of the wealthy people of his culture. The inside was woven with threads of fire and ice dust, also influenced by designs from his culture, though you really couldn't see it. He wore fingerless gloves that were a mix of pink and black; he wore exceptionally standard, yet still fashionable, black shoes.

He had unusual magenta-colored eyes, and had straight black hair that was only a bit shorter than Nora's; until recently, he'd had a ponytail for the hair in the very back, but Nora finally convinced him to get rid of it before coming to Beacon. It looked silly.

Logically speaking, he'd probably have a similar tan to Nora, but somehow his skin had never once darkened; He always avoided answering why that was when she asked. Nora was pretty sure he didn't know either.

"So I take it the trees are interesting?" she asked.

"Very. Maybe you should quietly admire them for a while."

 _Subtle,_ Nora thought.

* * *

 **Sorry, I just need to get this off my chest since this chapter was pure pain to write.**

 **WHY THE FUCKING SHIT DID I WRITE 3,000 GODDAMN WORDS DESCRIBING CHARACTER APPEARANCES!? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!**


	8. Chapter 7: Encounters

"How much further, Ren?" Nora asked as the two continued jogging through the forest.

"I don't know."

"Hm," Nora said, disappointed.

They continued in relative silence for a few minutes, before hearing a sudden yell from the left.

"AGH!" It sounded like a girl, and the accompanying _thunk_ sound led Ren and Nora to believe the girl had just hit something hard.

"Um… do we go see―and he's already going…" Nora sighed to herself and chased after Ren.

"Ow… ow, ow, ow, ow ow." A girl, who seemed even younger than Nora, sat in front of tree, holding her stomach. She slowly got her feet and called out so quietly it was basically pointless. "Weiss? Um, hey Wei―oh, uh… h-hi there." She interrupted herself as she noticed the two approaching her, forcing a smile.

"You lose your partner or something?" Nora asked the girl.

The girl averted her eyes, scanning the surroundings behind her. "Y-yeah, I guess. Something like that."

Ren noticed a white blur approaching from the distance. "Does your partner wear white?" he asked. The girl's eyes darted to him; he pointed where he saw the color from.

The girl stepped out into the path the blur was following and waved her hand. A girl in white clothes slowed and stopped right in front of the girl in the black outfit; she seemed upset.

"What in the world was THAT?!" Weiss yelled. "Why'd you suddenly run off on your own?!"

"I-I couldn't, well… I, uh, I didn't see you anywhere, so, you see. I think you'd, like, I don't know…" Ruby tried backing away from Weiss, but gave up halfway through and just stared at her feet.

"Well, maybe, if you could take half a second to look UP, you would have realized that I was following you, since you claimed to know where to go!"

"I'm sorry, alright! I didn't―I mean, I―"

"Whatever. Let's just go." Weiss grabbed her by the wrist and started pulling her away.

Nora and Ren watched as the scene unfolded, not totally sure how to react. As the two girls walked away, Ren and Nora felt a burst of wind from above the treetops.

"What the heck wa―"

"GET DOWN!" Ren yelled to the two girls as he pulled Nora down to the ground, interrupting her.

Weiss looked back in confusion at the boy who yelled at them. She saw Ruby had already ducked as well. Ruby looked up her; she quickly got up and threw both herself and Weiss to the dirt as a massive dark figure flew through where they'd been standing.

Ruby pushed herself up and turned around, only to immediately avert her eyes as she stared directly into the sun. Weiss pushed herself to sitting position and looked at the destruction that now laid around them.

A huge number of trees had been cleanly severed, perfect cuts going through their trunks around two rods off the ground. The trees had fallen all around them, and they now had very little movable space to work with.

"A Nevermore," Ren said as he stared at the massive bird, which flew up and away from the group, but was beginning to turn back.

"I've never seen a grimm that big," Nora commented. "It's gotta be a least Great size, right?

"At least," Ren muttered. He hopped onto the field of trees and called to the two girls. "You two alright?"

Ruby and Weiss had stood up and gotten their bearings, both registering the massive threat flying above them. "We're fine," Weiss said.

"You don't think we'll be able to get away, do you?" Nora asked.

"Unlikely," said Ren. He made his way over to the others, Nora following close.

The Nevermore had turned around fully now, and was swooping back down for another attack.

The four warriors took out their weapons and prepared themselves for battle.

* * *

Yang was already getting tired of her partner. Blake had yet to say a word since they'd begun their trek.

 _Screw this_ , she decided. She grabbed her earbuds from a pouch on her belt and belt and turned on her music; one benefit of being away from her dad is he couldn't tell her to turn it down anymore.

Blake knew she should probably try to make some kind of small talk to gain Yang's trust, but strongly doubted that they could get anywhere with idle chat. Based off their introductions, Yang wasn't particularly excited about having such a dull partner, and had initially seemed energetic.

 _Not a whole lot I can do about that, though_ , Blake thought to herself. _Hard to be positive anymore._

She pushed those thoughts out and focused on her task. _Ozpin said the northern area. This forest is freaking huge, and the relics are small enough for us to hold. How small is the area we're looking for? Which section of the north could it be in? Should we look east to west, or―_

"―ake! Blake!"

Blake snapped out of her thoughts and turned to Yang. She jogged over to her partner, who was examining the opening of a large cave. There were a large number of strange markings around it.

"Think the relics are through here?" Yang asked. "Seems a bit conspicuous."

Blake closed her eyes momentarily. "Back up," she said as she took several large steps back.

"Huh? Why?"

"There's something breathing in there. Something incredibly large."

"Seriously? I don't hear anything."

"Trust me," Blake told her.

Yang looked at her for several seconds before slowly taking a few very small steps back.

"Hang on, do you see that? There's more of those markings in the cave," Yang said.

"No, there aren't. It's completely empt―"

Yang looked at her.

"What?" Blake asked.

"That cave is pitch black. It should be impossible to see in it."

Blake's eyes widened. _Shit._

"So… you can see in the dark, have unnaturally good hearing, and can orient yourself with no techniques or tools."

Blake grit her teeth.

"I'm guessing that you wear―"

"Shut up." Blake said, a tone of fury in her voice.

"I'm just curious why you're hiding it; I'm not judging or―"

"I SAID SHUT UP!" Blake yelled.

She glared at Yang, who had gotten a noticeable anger behind her gaze after Blake's outburst.

"Just… don't talk about it. Okay?" Blake asked, trying to calm herself. Only to hear a clicking sound. Repetitive. Fast. Echoing. "Get away from the cave, Yang. NOW!"

Yang continued to look at her with suspicion, backing only slightly away. She then seemed to notice the sound herself, and backed away significantly.

A massive Deathstalker emerged at a rapid speed and slammed its pincers down, covering a huge chunk of the area in front of the cave with them.

"Oh boy," Yang muttered. Figuring Blake wouldn't do a whole lot of talking during the fight, she reached for her pocket to put her headphones back in.

She paused when she realized they weren't there. She'd dropped them as she had backed up.

Leaving them right in the spot where the Deathstalker smashed his pincers.

* * *

A massive tremor passed under Jaune and Pyrrha and they ran. Pyrrha managed to stay upright, but Jaune lost his balance and fell to the dirt.

"The heck was that?" he wondered aloud.

"Not sure," Pyrrha replied. "I heard a crash from over there right before it hit us." She pointed a bit left of where they had been heading.

She offered her hand and pulled him up; they turned to the direction Pyrrha'd pointed.

"Could it have been a grimm?" Jaune asked.

"Only a _very_ large one."

From where they were looking came the loudest, most rage-filled scream either of them had ever heard. They both had to pause a moment to process it.

"Think we should go take a look? Jaune asked.

"Probably," Pyrrha replied.

They sprinted through the trees and arrived at a large clearing with a tall cliff facing them; they assumed was probably the edge of the forest.

A huge Deathstalker, at least 15 rods in length sans tail, was just outside the entrance to a cave at the bottom of the cliff. A blond girl seemed to be punching it in the face hard, and quickly. A girl in black and white clothes stood at a distance with her swords out.

The pair ran up to the girl. "I assume the Deathstalker is responsible for the tremor we felt?" Pyrrha said, phrasing it like a question.

"Probably," the girl replied.

"Is-Is there some kind of plan?" Jaune asked her.

"Outside of 'Kill it,' not really."

She decided to put her left sword onto her back, and charged in to stab its pincer that it was swinging towards the blond, who had been screaming in rage at every punch, which was accompanied by a bright flash.

Blake imbedded her sword deep into the front of its pincer before moving around to the side of it and spinning her arm, looping the ribbon around it several times. She ran to the back and started pulling it away, propelling herself repeatedly with her shadow clones. After reaching an acceptable distance, she slammed the sheath into the ground and held her feet against the flat of the blade, stopping the grimm from pulling her forward, and wrapped all the slack in the ribbon back on her arm.

Seeing this inspired an idea in Pyrrha. "Jaune, I need your help with something," she told him.

"Ye-yeah, sure. What?" he replied, barely able to take his eyes off the grimm.

"The pincer she's holding," Pyrrha pointed, "I need you to shove your sword as far in it as you safely can. If you can manage to cut into it with your shield, put that in it too."

"Um… alright?"

"Then, go to the blond and tell her to go to where I am."

"So here?"

"No, where I am then."

Jaune took a deep breath. "Alright, I'll see what I can do. I got this. I got this." He took another breath and started sprinting towards the pincer.

He took out his sword and yelled as he approached, jamming his sword as far as it could go. He'd seen the lower part of the pincer was less armored, so he slid under and slammed his shield into its skin. He crawled out and started towards the blond girl.

Pyrrha ran towards the girl with the black hair, stopping to shove her spear and shield into the pincer as well; upon reaching the girl, she took a quick breath and told her the instructions.

"When you hear me call out 'Now,' release your hold, okay?"

The girl was straining too hard to do anything more than nod.

Pyrrha ran back to the pincer and almost bumped into the blond girl.

"Alright, good," Pyrrha said to her. "When I say 'Now,' hit the pincer as hard as you can towards the body."

"Yeah, I can hit this just fine," she said. Yang opened up the gauntlet on her right hand and readied herself.

Pyrrha took a deep breath. _Jaune seems to be out of the way_ , she noted. "Alright, then. _NOW!"_ she yelled at the top of her lungs.

Blake released her grapple, and Yang slammed her fist into the pincer and unloaded three shells into it as it swung outward.

Pyrrha focused entirely on the metal in the claw and turned its direction to straight towards the Deathstalker.

It slammed its own claw into the side of its face at full force, shattering a huge amount of its armor and almost totally knocking it on its side.

"Holy crap!" Jaune exclaimed.

The group retreated from the side of the grimm and went to the front as it pushed itself upright.

"Nice to meet you two by the way; I'm Yang."

"Pyrrha. A pleasure." Pyrrha replied.

* * *

"If we plan to kill this thing, the first thing we need to do is ground it," Weiss stated to the group.

"Agreed," said Ren. He inspected the weapons of the others. "Nora is likely the only one who can bring it down, and depending on how hard you can swing that scythe, you'll be the only one who can cut its wings."

"So you want me to slam it down?" Nora asked.

"Not yet," Weiss interrupted. "There's too many trees laying around to effectively fight on the ground.

Ruby nervously stepped forward. "Um, I can stall it with long range fire so y-you can clear the area."

"Got it!" Nora grinned as she took out an electric dust crystal from her pocket and crushed it in a fist. She seemed to consume the lightning into her body before knocking a fallen tree out of sight with her hammer.

Weiss summoned glyphs next to nearby trees and began to push the glyphs to roll them away.

Ren approached Ruby. She was taking aim, trying to hit the Nevermore's eye. She remembered it was one of their few spots.

"Do you think your scythe can cut its wings?" Ren asked.

Ruby fired off three shots; she missed its eyes, but managed to stall it briefly. "I don't know. Nevermores are known for having very strong outer armor, so it'd take more than one hit."

She returned to firing at the grimm as Ren ran to Weiss. She noticed him as he approached and took a break from pushing trees.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Your weapon; it looks designed for piercing over slashing. Is that accurate."

"It can be used to slash, however piercing is most efficient with it. Why?"

"Once its grounded, I want to stab as far as you can into a wing as close as you can to its body before pulling back."

"Then Ruby will slice into the weak spot, allowing her cut easier." Weiss surmised.

"Right."

"Simple enough. It should work."

"Good," Ren said. He looked to the Nevermore. Ruby shot in bursts of 3-5, always aimed close to the eyes; each burst caused it to turn away in recoil before beginning to dive from a different angle, only to turn again. It was big, but it wasn't smart. However…

Each attempted dive did bring it slightly closer; not significant, but noticeable. It clearly wasn't being very injured by the bursts, it seemed more annoyed than anything.

"I'm done over here!" Nora shouted as she started running back.

"I'm finished here as we―what the!?" Weiss exclaimed as she noticed Nora had something unusual in her arms.

Ren wasn't quite as surprised as the other two as Nora ran up to him.

"Ready here too," Ruby called out.

Ren nodded and cupped his hands low; Nora took his queue and stepped upon them. Using her unnatural strength and Ren's boost, Nora launched up even higher than the Nevermore, drawing its attention.

However, the grimm had no time to react as Nora brought the full force of the tree she had carried crashing down on its skull.

"Strength-increasing semblance?" Weiss asked.

"Yeah," Ren replied.

The Nevermore came crashing down, causing an impact that made Nora lose her grip of the tree and fall as well.

Weiss wasted no time. She rapidly charged in using her glyphs and pierced its shoulder hard. She flew back as quickly as she approached.

Ruby took the hint and charged in, jumping on the wing and pushing herself at max speed as she sliced through the broken wing. She momentarily slowed, but seemed to speed up as she continued, just enough to completely slice off the wing.

* * *

As Pyrrha arrived at the front of the Deathstalker, she dropped her spear and chucked her shield like a frisbee; guiding it with her semblance, she sent it slicing straight through the end of the grimm's tail. The shield lodged itself in the wall behind the Deathstalker, and the pincer that once sat on the tail fell to the ground. Pyrrha picked up her spear and summoned her shield back to her.

"What now?" Jaune asked her.

"Didn't think that far, I'll admit."

"Well then, I say…" Yang readied her fists and ran towards the beast, "we hit it 'til it dies!"

"Not really a plan…" Pyrrha said under her breath.

Yang began to slam her fists into the now exposed body of the grimm, firing a shell with each punch.

"We could cut off its pincers while she takes its attention," Blake suggested.

"Yeah, that's where my mind was heading. You get the left, and Jaune gets the right?"

Blake nodded and ran towards the left flank of the creature.

Jaune, however, just stared at her.

"You want me to WHAT?!" he asked.

Pyrrha held up her spear. "Not as good at severing compared to a sword. I can hold it in place if you want me too."

Jaune forced a laugh. "He...hehe… you're kidding right?"

"You have to fight at this school, Jaune. You have to take risks. Now come on!" Pyrrha began to drag him towards the pincer.

As Blake approached the pincer, it swung blindly at her. She jumped over, leaving a shadow clone infused with earth dust in her place. The pincer slammed full force into the statue, freezing it long enough for Blake.

She planted her sword into the ground below the pincer and looped her ribbon around the outside of the claw before dashing behind to where the limb met the body.

She took out the sheath and began to strike the unarmored skin. The claw, held in place with the combined efforts of the sword and Blake's arm holding the ribbon in place, could do little to stop the fierce cuts.

With significant effort, she managed to slice through the limb, and the pincer dropped to the ground as the Deathstalker began to skitter erratically.

The random movements made Yang's job more difficult until she realized she could hold on to the broken armor over its head while still being able to punch it in the face.

Meanwhile, Pyrrha used her spear to pierce through some of the cracks in the armor of the claw and nail it to the ground. She moved past the claw to the unarmored section where it met the body and did what she could to stretch it and make it easier to slice through.

Jaune remained still, though.

"Cut it," she ordered.

"Uh, yeah. Cut it. Right…"

He took several deep breaths, then yelled out as he slammed his sword into the skin as hard as could. It cut through like butter, and his forward momentum made him faceplant as Pyrrha lost her footing as well. She quickly picked herself up and grabbed her spear from the fallen claw.

Jaune grabbed the hand she offered and pulled himself back up. He realized he'd dropped his sword, but noticed Pyrrha had it.

"I need to borrow this a sec," she said before he could ask for it back. She slammed both her spear and his sword into the pincer's recently added end, and brought it upwards with her semblance.

"Are you going to…" Jaune started.

"Probably exactly what you think, yes." Pyrrha stated.

Jaune made his way back to the front of the grimm.

"Yang! Back up!" he shouted.

She immediately backed up to where he now stood.

"New plan?" she assumed.

"Kinda…"

Blake joined the two of them as Pyrrha came out front, levitating the pincer in front of her.

The Deathstalker could barely even move enough to do anything at this point, completely worn out by Yang's merciless assault.

Pyrrha raised her arms, and the pincer followed suit.

She threw them down, and the claw slammed into the armor on the grimm.

She raised her arms again, and threw them down again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

The Deathstalker's armor was shattered.

One final time, she slammed the pincer into the beast.

It went straight through its body, slicing straight through all remaining tissue.

The Deathstalker went limp.

She called out the sword and spear from the pincer and slowly walked back to the group.

"Holy shit," Yang stated.

* * *

Ruby, seeing her work with the wing was done, retreated to join the trio.

"Next?" Weiss asked Ren.

"Working on it…"

"If Weiss or I could get an opening to throw our weapon precise enough to hit in its mouth, we could kill it," Ruby stated.

"How does THAT work?"

"The feathers are the armor," Ren noted. "The mouth is unprotected. It could be the easiest option."

"I'd call it the riskiest," Weiss said.

"I can do the hard part!" Nora proclaimed.

"That being?" Weiss asked.

"Get the stupid mouth open!"

"You work at that, I'll make sure it stays down," Ren told her.

"Roger!" replied Nora cheerfully.

The two ran in, Ren stabbing through the wings and into the ground in two spots before going behind the beast and holding it down manually. Meanwhile Nora smashed the grimm in the face with her hammer before tossing it aside; she pried open the beak, using both her arms and legs to keep it open.

"What do we do now?" Weiss panicked.

"Throw me into it with your glyph," Ruby commanded.

"Wha－? Are you insane?!"

"Yes, just do it!"

Ruby extend her scythe to be more spearlike before approaching the glyph Weiss prepared.

"And launch!" she exclaimed.

Ruby instantly shot forward at an incredible speed. Just barely able to hold the blade still in front of her, she shot straight in the Nevermore's gaping mouth, piercing the tender skin within.

Her momentum quickly slowed, and she found herself trapped in the monster. It seemed as though the insides of it were closing in around her, but she quickly realized it was simply fading away.

She sat uncomfortably, waiting for the walls of dark flesh around her to turn to mist and sink around her. In time, she found herself lying on the ground, the three other fighters running up to her.

Nora extended a hand to Ruby. "That was easier than it seemed at first, wasn't it?" Nora commented to the others as she pulled Ruby up.

"Frankly, it almost seemed too simple," Weiss replied.

"Not a bad thing," Ren reminded her.

"Yes, I'm aware." Weiss looked to Ruby. "Rather disgusting and insane, but not a terrible plan overall."

Ruby looked to her feet she brought her scythe down to compact form and locked it on her belt. "Y-yeah, sure."

"Anyway, aren't we supposed to find some thingy?" Nora asked.

"Indeed. However it's not especially clear where."

Ren checked the sky. He found north and pointed. "This general direction."

"Better than nothing; let's go!" Nora shouted, already running away from the ruined battlefield.


	9. Chapter 8: RWBY

"Uh… alright," Jaune said. "So… uh… what now?"

"Anyone know where we head now?" Yang asked.

Blake pointed. "Relics are that way."

"Great! Let's hurry over. Sooner we get out of the forest, the better," Pyrrha said.

"Yeah, right!" Jaune agreed. "But, uh, who are you two?"

"I'm Yang." Yang paused, looking to Blake. "That's Blake."

"Jaune."

"Pyrrha."

"Cool." Yang started running in the direction Blake had pointed. The three followed after her.

* * *

As Nora bolted ahead of the group, Ren introduced the two of them. Nora slowed after hearing her name.

"What's up?" she asked.

"I was introducing us," Ren informed her.

"Oh. I'm Nora!"

"So we heard," Weiss replied. "I'm Weiss Schnee."

"Ruby."

"Hey so how far is this thing supposed to be anyway?" Nora nearly ignored their introductions, skipping right past the topic.

"Unfortunately, the Headmaster refrained from informing us of that," Weiss said with clear annoyance.

"You think it's in that clearing up there?"

"Nora… for once you may be on to something," Ren said with a sigh.

"Wazzat supposed to mean?!" She tried to hit him on the head, but stumbled when he dodged. He grabbed her arms and held them behind her until they reached the clearing.

A large area sprawled in front of them, devoid of anything except what appeared to be a set of ruins, consisting of old bricks forming a floor with partial walls and no ceiling. Inside the circle lay 8 small pillars, just within the walls, even spaced around the edge. The tops of the pillars were roughly chest height. On most of them lay familiar shapes.

"Chess pieces?" Weiss commented with curiosity. A queen, king, two rooks, one knight, and one bishop were placed on the pillars. Two had nothing on them.

"8 relics," Ren mused.

Nora walked up and swiftly grabbed a rook from where it was placed. "I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle!" she sang as she twirled in place.

Weiss moved and grabbed the queen piece. "Why would he make these be the relics?"

"Simple to supply, I'd imagine." Ren thought aloud, taking the piece Nora held. "No need to worry about losing something like this."

"And now we go back…" Ruby said quietly.

"Sure seems like it," Weiss sighed. "Rather tedious, isn't it?"

* * *

"Hey I think I see a clearing!" Yang called to the trio following her.

"Do you think it's the relics?" Pyrrha asked her.

"Dunno, but it looks like there's people… and ruins."

"That's a good sign, I guess," Jaune commented.

They ran the rest of the way in silence, before making through the last trees, making their way into the clearing, finding…

"The cliffs are in that direction," Ren told the others, pointing as he lowered himself from the tree.

"So we just run in that direction until we hit a wall?" Nora asked.

"Sure. Hm?" Ren noticed a group emerging from the trees, led by a tall blonde girl.

"Oh hey! This the relic spot?" Yang asked casually, walking to the ruins.

"Yep! They're just chess pieces though…" Nora told her.

"Huh, really?" Yang took a look at the remaining pieces. "This one's the biggest, I'll take it," she said as she grabbed the king.

 _The king's the weakest piece_ , Blake noted as she watched her apparent partner grab their "relic."

"Chess pieces, huh?" Jaune thought aloud as he took a look around. "Only two groups after us, huh?"

"Does the one we pick matter?" Pyrrha questioned.

"I guess we'll find out after this," Jaune stated as he grabbed the second rook.

"Hey, castle buddy!" Nora shouted as she waved her rook at Jaune.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, we match, don't we?"

No one spoke for a couple moments.

Nora made a very loud sniffing sound.

"So you guys saw where the cliffs were?" Yang broke the silence.

"Yeah, that way." Ren was getting sick of pointing by now.

"Let's not waste any more time then, shall we?" Weiss suggested.

* * *

We travelled back in relative peace, introducing ourselves on the way. Blake and Ren seemed to stay to the far left of the group, but Nora would sometimes drag Ren over to the side with her, Jaune, and Pyrrha, who had rather lively conversations throughout our stroll. Weiss was "leading" us, for the most part; Yang was rather… all over the place. She joined the talkative trio, she checked on me, she tried to find Grimm to fight… typical Yang, really.

I stayed in the back, pretty far away from the rest of them. I'd always give Yang the standard "I'm fine," if she ever stopped back to see me. I knew she did it because she cared, but at the same time… it was annoying. Any time I'd got into how I was really feeling with her before, it was clear she never really listened. She cared because she was supposed to, not because she wanted to. If I wasn't her sister, she probably wouldn't have ever associated with me. Weiss was supposed to be my partner and she didn't even give a damn about me. Anyone else would've been better.

These less than pleasant thoughts continued for essentially the rest of our walk, and the others rarely deviated from what they were doing.

Whether by luck or coincidence, we never met anyone or anything else along the way, to Yang's almost childlike disappointment.

Upon reaching the base of the cliffs, we found ourselves staring straight at Ozpin, just standing there.

"I commend all of your talents in making it through the forest. Please step on this platform one at a time when you're ready to exit."

* * *

The group of eight were sent up the cliff by the gravity manipulating device, joining the two pairs who had finished, and were shortly joined by the rest of the group, as well as Ozpin.

He led the students back to the main hall where they had first seen him the day prior, and were told to take their seats in the rightmost section of seats. There were three other sections, two of which were full upon their arrival. Many people struck up conversations as they waited for the final group.

As they arrived and began to file in, Ozpin took the mic in front of the groups.

"Each of you has just gone through some form of test. The four teachers you have this year oversaw these tests, and you have been matched with a partner. Now you and your partner will be matched with another pair to form a team. These teams will be your roommates and closest allies for the next 5 years. Professor Port, you can start us off."

A stout man with gray hair, rectangular glasses, and a bushy mustache walked up to the microphone as Ozpin walked off. "Gladly!" he said in an upbeat, confident voice.

Ruby paid little attention to the man as he talked, thinking about nothing in particular. He brought up a pair of students, brought another up, announced the team, then moved to the next group. He repeated this until he was through his group of 16.

After, a younger, thinner man with round glasses and big, messy greenish hair took the mic. He talked quickly and with lots of volume and energy. He got through his group faster.

Next was Glynda. She was the serious one of the group, clearly. SHe had fancy blonde hair and glasses much like the first one. She got her group done and walked off without any additions to anything, very by the books.

Finally, Ozpin came back up. "Those of you in my test were given the opportunity to select a piece from the game chess. Your teams will be made based on matching pieces. To start, the rooks. Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos, come forward. Nora Valkyrie, Tao Ren, come forward." **Yeah I changed Ren's first name shut up.**

The two groups walked up confidently… for the most part. Ozpin continued as the came to the stage.

He extended his hand. "The rooks, please." Jaune nervously put the piece in Ozpin's hands, while Nora seemed rather reluctant to part with her castle.

"The four of you form Team Juniper." The screen above Ozpin displayed the letters JNPR. "Your leader is Jaune Arc. Good luck to you in your time here."

Ruby clapped with the other students for the first time as the new team found their seats.

Ruby got more anxious as Ozpin called both of the other teams forward, and then…

"Ruby Xiao Long. Weiss Schnee. Blake Belona. Yang Xiao Long. Please come forward."

Mustering the small bit of adrenaline she still had from the fight in the forest as courage, Ruby pushed herself out of her seat and followed Weiss to the podium. The gazes of her now-classmates seemed to pierce her back.

"The queen please."

Weiss handed the king to Ozpin.

"And the king."

Yang gave him the king.

"The four of you form team Ruby."

The letters above formed RWBY.

"Your leader is Ruby Xiao Long. Congratulations. And good luck in the trials ahead of you." He turned to the audience of students. "Welcome to Beacon."

He turned and left the podium. He went to exit as Glynda came up to tell them to follow the upperclassmen at the sides of the room, and they would guide them to the dorm hall.

 _I'm… I'm what?!_ Ruby screamed in her mind.

 _Why is this little girl the leader of the team? It's completely illogical!_ Weiss thought angrily.

Yang looked at her team. She began to follow the group out.

"This is gonna be a long five years."


	10. Chapter 9: Silver

_**Chapter Nine:**_

 _ **Silver**_

Team RWBY followed the group of students through the halls. The upperclassmen leading them announced when they reached the dorm hall. Their names would be outside the door, so they'd be able to find their rooms from there.

The four found theirs roughly halfway down. Inside were four closely set beds, two large desks, a large bookshelf, a wall-mounted T.V., a large closet on the right, and a bathroom on the right.

The four didn't really say much. None knew what to say. They set aside their things and unpacked their bags, then did their own thing before they all eventually went to bed.

Ruby wanted to talk to Yang, but she seemed… more distant than normal.

 _I bet she didn't want me in her group…_ Ruby thought.

Weiss paced around the room, looking mildly disappointed at each part of it before settling down to read a book.

Blake had almost filled the bookshelf with her supply, and read for several hours before turning in.

Yang wasn't sure what to do with the trio of introverts, so she just went to bed early.

Ruby read one of her comics until she started to feel drowsy. The forest must've exhausted her more than she thought. How long had they been in there, anyway…

Ruby's dreams that night were rather eerie.

* * *

Two lights. Vaguely human. One gold, one purple. Entwined in bloodred threads. A small silver light glowed in the distance.

The world shifted. A man, old and weary, then a baby, he aged quickly, then another baby.

The world shifted. A black, humanoid figure with massive wings, blocking the light of the sun. Grimm tore through villages, cities… people.

The world shifted. A planet. Green and blue, with white swirling around over it.

The world shifted. A man, glowing radiant silver, wielding a simple sword and shield, faced millions of Grimm. He shredded them apart, leaving none alive. An orb, glowing white, with black cracks running all across it, arose for each one defeated. Each shattered.

The world shifted. A woman, similar in appearance to Ruby, stood near a cliff. A pale white woman in black robes approached her. A hand extended. Metal cut through flesh. A scream rang out.

The world shifted. A moon, an unbroken moon, stood in the sky. A massive cloud of smoke could be seen; it looked like a mushroom. A man laughed.

The world shifted. A boy with a tail, broken and dead on the street, approached by a pale woman. She offers her hand.

The world shifted. A tall, thin man, controlled like a puppet by red strings.

The world shifted. A young girl, in a pool of blood, sat. Her mind was empty. The pale woman smiled.

The world shifted. A large man clutched a letter. He was crying. He tore the letter apart and screamed.

The world shifted. A woman was strapped to a chair. The man she loved sat across from her. Three women put themselves upon him. The woman in the chair screamed in fury. Then the man was dead. The three women laughed.

The world shifted. A man stared at a monstrous Grimm, a delighted smile on his face and tears in his eyes. The Grimm nuzzled its head on his chest.

The world shifted. Red hair, a red sword. Golden hair on the floor. A girl screamed.

The world shifted. Two birds, both black, ferociously fighting. A man runs to stop them, but he can't reach them. A man laughs.

The world shifted. A massive Grimm, standing higher than the mountains, walks the world. He feels sadness. He is lonely. He is in pain.

A silver light lies in the distance. It warms Ruby's heart.

A red light consumes the silver light. Terror runs through Ruby. She is powerless. The silver light appears next to Ruby. "We can win this, Ruby." It says. It has Jaune's voice. There is another voice, soft. Gentle. Kind.

"Be strong, my children."

Ruby feels strong. She can face anything. Fear is nothing.

The world shifted. She was back at elementary school. "I'm Ruby Rose!" She introduced herself. Pain, sadness, confusion. She was gone? Where? When will mom come home? Laughter rings in her ears. "I bet she'll die too." "A child's naivete must fade someday."

The fear is all consuming. There is nothing but it. No one can be trusted. They're all against you. You want them all to vanish.

She hits the boy. It feels great. She hits again.

Again.

Again.

Again.

Again.

Again.

Again.

Again.

It's so freeing. It's his pain, not yours.

It feels satisfying.

It feels right.

The boy explodes into a puddle of red.

A man laughs.

The world shifts.

A flaming figure, wielding a shining sword.

A frozen figure, wearing a vibrant robe.

A liquid figure, holding a dazzling hammer.

An electrified figure, brandishing an indomitable shield.

The world shifted.

A pale white woman, and a man white pure white hair, fighting. Children stand around them, pleading them to stop. They won't. The woman has the robe, sword, and hammer. The man holds only the shield.

Light explodes in the room.

The children are gone. The hammer is broken. The robe is burned. The sword is splintered. The woman is there. The man is not. The shield remains.

The woman screams.

A man laughs.

Two men scream.

A man cries.

The world shifts.

A purple man stands alone in the nothing.

He is sad.

He is angry.

He is confused.

Everything he built was destroyed.

It was destroyed by the beings he built.

A gold man appears next to him.

He feels something different.

He feels anger as well.

But he is jealous.

Why can only one of them care about it?

Why aren't they the same?

Why couldn't their places be switched?

A red man sits in the distance. The nothing around him is consumed by darkness.

They cannot see him.

They cannot hear him.

He doesn't want them to.

He laughs at them.

A small, insignificant man sits in the distance. He is silver. In the land of nothing, color forms around him.

He looks at the brothers in pity.

He is sad, as they are sad.

He looks to the red man.

He is nothing to the red man.

He may never be anything to the red man.

He pities the red man.

The world shifts.

The gold man watches.

He watches the purple man create.

He is creating life.

It is an outlet.

His emotions from before, sent into the next.

But he seemed inspired.

Inspired by the minds spawned of his own.

A world of magic.

A world of monsters.

It was harsher.

It was livelier, though.

The gold man contributes what he can.

It's not much, but it's meaningful.

The red man watches in delight.

The silver man watches anxiously.

It doesn't seem like a nice world.

It seems like a cruel world.

The gold and purple men bring their pride and joy back.

Not excessively.

Just a few.

The red man is excited.

This is what he wanted.

He begins to interfere.

The purple man is confused.

The gold man is angry.

The silver man cries.

He cannot stop it.

The world shifts.

A pale woman stands at the edge of a cliff.

She cries.

The silver man stands by her.

He wants to comfort her.

His hands are burned by her touch.

She cannot see him.

He is still helpless.

It is not for him that his tears fall.

They are for the pale woman.

The world shifts.

The silver man stands alone in the nothing.

A figure is next to Ruby.

He is a silver outline with no inside.

He looks familiar.

A beautiful world forms around them.

Trees tower to the clouds.

A cliff overlooks a shining ocean.

Birdsong resonates through the air.

The silver man looks around.

He looks to Ruby, then to the figure beside her.

"I'm sorry, my children. This world will not show you the kindness you deserve, I fear. I only hope… that you can withstand the cruelty of it all…"

He collapses to his knees.

The beautiful scene fades to nothing again.

The silver man is sad.

"I know… I can do nothing more. There is so much… pain… please…"

"What do you want us to do?" the figure beside Ruby asks. It has Jaune's voice.

The silver man smiled. "Very little… I beseech you two… never lose sight of your gentle, kind souls…"

"I… don't know what you're asking." Ruby said. Her voice sounded odd. It brought her a pleasant feeling, like nostalgia.

"I suppose not… I'm sorry, but there is little I can do or say… I only wish… for you… to be… strong…"

The silver man faded.

The man beside Ruby faded.

She opened her silver eyes.

She was crying.

* * *

 **End of Arc 1**

* * *

 **In reply to my most recent review on the previous chapter:**

 **First, this is my story, you don't have to read it. Second, the characters, lore, pacing, and more will all be significantly different, hence why this is a rewrite, not a standard fanfiction. As for the story being terrible, I'm about three days in, and storywise it's similar to the show so far; the characters are the big change.**

 **I kind of admire you bashing my work and then provide one example of "poor writing." It's almost impressive how ironic it is. That said, changing Ren's name is both a thing of personal preference and some story value, just like changing Ruby's. Many things set up in these 9 chapters are very different from the RWBY you know and many take a while to reach their full payoff. Some things in this chapter are from the literal end of the story.**

 **To those who leave positive reviews, I know I'm not super consistent, but thanks for reading and taking the time to review it. It helps me to have the desire to continue.**


	11. Chapter 10: Prodigy

Ruby sat in silence for a moment. What was that dream? It was so… real.

She wiped her tears and sniffled. The other three were still asleep. The clock showed it was 6 B.M. She groaned quietly. The schedule on their desk said they had breakfast served at 9 to 10, and classes started at 11. A variety of switching classes were held until 15, when combat training began. That went until 4, and dinner was served 6-8. Rest of it was free time. This would be their schedule for Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays were mostly free days, but each student was required to do 2 hours of some form of training each of those days.

After Signal academy's intense 10 hour, 6 days a week program, it seemed like nothing to Ruby.

She rolled around in her bed for the next hour, trying to get a bit of extra sleep. However the dream she'd had kept running through her head on loop.

She stopped trying to sleep and got herself dressed. The closet had separators, with labels for each member of the team. Each section had three uniforms and plenty of space for other clothes.

Ruby took one of the uniforms. She assumed they got the size from the form her father had filled out for her. She also grabbed her belt off her combat outfit, and slipped it on over the uniform, and attached her scythe to it. The blade was collapsible, and so was most of it, so it wasn't too big. It did get heavy though.

She quietly slipped through the door into the hallway. Each room had the team and members names on the right side, and a unique type of map on the other. A student could insert their scroll in, and it would show a holographic map, as well as have a marker on where each classroom they had to go to was. The map was 3D and interactive, able to be enlarged, shrunk, or completely remove floors of the building from it. It also had a menu of popular locations you could use to quickly find them. You could mark it on your scroll and it would guide you there afterwards.

Ruby absentmindedly scrolled through the menu, looking for anything interesting. After scrolling through what seemed like hundreds of pointless things, she heard a door open down the hall.

She recognized the girl who stepped out, but she couldn't place from where.

The girl closed her door with a failed degree of quietness. She turned and saw Ruby looking at her. Ruby averted her eyes to the map, pretending she was interested.

"Oh, hello there," the girl said. Ruby flinched.

Trying to avoid starting a conversation, Ruby just gave a quiet "Hey," in return.

The girl started walking over. Ruby groaned mentally.

"Are you looking for somewhere in particular?' she asked.

"Not really…" Ruby replied.

"Well if you don't have anywhere you're going, how about joining me for combat training? I try to always get in a bit of early practice to get myself ready in the morning."

"... why are you inviting me to join?"

"I don't know. Just seems like fate since we were both out here."

 _Fate, huh?_ Ruby thought.

"I… sure, I guess." Ruby said. The girl seemed easy to get along with, at least. "I'll… find it."

She scrolled through the menu before coming to the training grounds. She marked the one in the same building as them on her map and removed the scroll. Apparently there were over 10 training grounds.

"Have you used that sort of thing before?" The girl looked at the map device in curiosity.

"No. It's simple though." Ruby yawned. She opened the map on her scroll and started in the direction it showed.

As they started down the hallway, the girl, who Ruby wasn't sure how to ask the name of, suddenly jumped.

She and Ruby turned. Ren had surprised the girl by tapping her shoulder.

 _I didn't hear anything behind us…_ Ruby thought.

"Ren!? Gods, I didn't hear you coming." The girl exclaimed. She remembered people were sleeping and quieted down. "Sorry, I didn't wake you when I left, did I?"

"No." He looked at Ruby. "I didn't know you knew Pyrrha."

"Um, well… I don't. We just happened to be in the hall and stuff and then we just, um, well… yeah." Ruby's face felt like it was on fire.

"I see… you two seemed to be headed somewhere though."

"I saw her looking bored and invited her to join me in my morning training. It was just a coincidence we saw each other in the hall, though."

Ren muttered something about Pyrrha not waking everyone up. "Well, don't let me hold you up." He began to walk back to the room.

"Huh? Ren, you don't want to join us?" Pyrrha asked.

"Hm? Not particularly."

"O-oh, I see. Sorry for bothering you."

He walked back to his room, entering as quietly as he exited.

"Well then, that was unexpected," Pyrrha commented. Ruby nodded, still embarrassed from earlier.

The two continued down, finding their way to the training area. While on the elevator down, Pyrrha realized, "Ren talked to you like you knew him."

"Oh, yeah, I met him in the, uh… the forest. I guess you're on his team."

"Yes… an odd bunch, though that seems to apply to almost everyone." Pyrrha chuckled. "I don't think I've asked you yet; what's your name?"

"Oh, of course… I'm Ruby." She looked at Pyrrha again and realized why she seemed familiar.

"You're Jaune's friend!" they said in unison.

There was a pause.

"Um, what?" Ruby was confused. Why would Pyrrha know her as that?

"I've seen you and Jaune talking before. Did I get the wrong impression?"

"I-yes… no… maybe? I don't know…" Ruby shook her head.

Pyrrha smiled. "Frankly he seems like the type who's friends with everyone, even if on accident. I'd say you're a friend to him."

Ruby looked at her. "...really?" She'd seen the eyes people have when mocking or looking down on someone. Pyrrha wasn't doing either. Figuratively, anyway; she was pretty tall. Though she was likely two years older, like everyone else.

"He's a pretty nice guy, isn't he? Though he isn't exactly the most experienced fighter," Pyrhha said with a smile.

Ruby looked to Pyrrha.

 _She doesn't give herself enough credit,_ she thought.

* * *

Ruby's scythe slammed into Pyrhha's shield. The redheaded huntress took the blow head-on, barely even letting herself be pushed. She swung her shield out, pushing the scythe away. She jabbed forward with the spear.

Ruby dropped the scythe and hit the ground. She rolled to the side and grabbed her scythe as Pyrrha brought herself back to a defensive stance. Pyrrha flipped the spear and fired from the barrel at the base towards Ruby, who dashed back with her semblance.

Ruby fired a few shots from a distance, but Pyrrha's shield defended them with ease.

Ruby folded the scythe into its compact gun form. She fired a burst of three as quick as she could, aimed as far apart as possible, then charged forward. Pyrrha blocked the first two shots, and the third one Ruby seemed to miss, though it looked like it curved more than miss.

She fired five more shots, then dove. She extended one arm out and swiped Pyrrha's leg from under her, then spun and swung her scythe…

Straight into Pyrrha's shield. Pyrrha dropped her shield and held the scythe, jabbing forward, once more. She hit Ruby in the stomach with the spear, and Ruby recoiled at the impact. She involuntarily let go of her scythe as she fell back.

Pyrrha slipped her shield on her arm and held Ruby's gun with the now free hand.

Ruby shot forward.

A punch, a dodge.

A kick, an evade.

She tried to loop around Pyrrha, but she turned too quick. She made a feint towards the scythe, but changed course to take Pyrrha's spear instead.

Pyrrha grabbed her out of her dash, lifted her up, and slammed her on the ground. She placed a knee on Ruby's chest.

"Alert. Aura levels reaching below 25% in Ruby Xiao Long." An automated voice rang through the small arena they were in.

Pyrrha got off Ruby and put her weapons away, setting Ruby's on the ground.

She gave the wincing girl a hand. Ruby took it and pulled herself up.

"Sorry; I didn't hurt you, did I?" Pyrrha asked nervously.

Ruby grabbed her scythe and put it away. "No. Just hard impacts."

"Well that's good."

 _She could give Yang some difficulty in an arm wrestling contest,_ Ruby thought.

They each got water and took a seat on a nearby bench. Pyrrha didn't seem especially phased, but Ruby could tell she'd worked up a serious sweat.

"Five matches… and I couldn't get one…" she muttered.

Pyrrha looked at her. "Losses are valuable, you know. You can see what went wrong and improve."

Ruby took a drink of water.

"If you don't mind, I have recommendations for things to improve."

Ruby looked at her in curiosity.

"You tend to rely on similar tactics constantly. Charge, retreat, charge retreat. And you're very reliant on your scythe, as opposed to tricking opponents with your semblance. You can sometimes be prone to reckless attacks if things get difficult."

Ruby looked down to her feet.

Pyrrha looked at her.

"You're younger than the rest of the students, aren't you?"

Ruby looked at her in surprise.

Pyrrha smiled. "It's clear if you know what the signs are. If someone's trying excessively to prove they can be as good as everyone else, and they end up taking unnecessary risks."

"So… are you…"

"No, I'm the same age as the others here. But before, when I trained

at Sanctum Academy, I was three years younger. Though, there was one who was FIVE years younger than the rest. She's the reason I came to Beacon now, as opposed to when I graduated from Sanctum."

"What do you mean?"

"Petra, the other young student, was an outstanding prodigy. She was a legend in both her home and the school. Her semblance and the control she had of it were unparalleled. When she heard I was younger than everyone as well, she demanded a battle between us. I was pressured into it by my classmates, and after 3 straight hours of fighting, I came out on top. From then on, she and I were rivals, and later very close friends; for our entire time at that school, I never beat her again, but I also never lost to anyone else. When I revealed I planned to study here instead of Haven with her, she was furious. She told me if I couldn't beat her by the time I turned 17, I had to stay in Mistral. I trained and trained, but I never could beat her. My deadline quickly approached, but I was determined to expand my knowledge and capabilities by coming here. Our final fight lasted 10 hours. That was the only way to beat her; wear her down until she couldn't continue. After that, we said our goodbyes, and she gave me this to remember her by until I go home," she gestured to a red sash tied around her waist. She looked at Ruby. "Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to bore you with some st－"

"It wasn't boring!" Ruby interrupted. "I-I mean… I…" Ruby paused. "I'm… It's－gah! I don't know what I'm trying to say." She took a deep breath. "I… I enjoy listening to the－those types of stories. So, um… thanks for… sharing it."

"Oh, well then… you're welcome, I suppose." She looked to the circular sparring arena in front of them. "I was just trying to say you don't need to prove yourself, and got wrapped up in my memories…" Pyrrha sighed.

"She sounds so… confident…" Ruby thought aloud.

"Petra?"

Ruby nodded.

"Yes, she certainly is. She is extremely confident." She glanced at Ruby. "But confidence can be a curse. When I first beat her, she locked herself in her room for almost a week. She thought everyone else would think less of her because she lost, but it seems people like an underdog story, and now she was one too. She went from an unreachable titan to someone people loved talking to. She'd never admit it, but I think losing was the best thing that ever happened to her." Pyrrha smiled at the fond memories. Ruby stood up suddenly, chugged the rest of her water and wiped at her hair.

"One more round," she declared.

* * *

Ruby spun rapidly, hitting blow after blow against Pyrrha's shield. A battle of attrition wasn't ideal, but it gave her to think things through. Pyrrha had been going easy; she usually didn't attack unless Ruby attacked her.

With a boost from her semblance, Ruby could spin herself in a full rotation roughly 3 times a second. However, she couldn't approach or retreat without slowing down to have better control of her footwork.

Pyrrha had incredible reflexes and strength, a wild charge wouldn't cut it like it would with a Grimm. Her shield was also a problem. She moved it fast and it covered quite a bit. If Ruby could knock her shield arm to the side hard enough to throw her off balance, she may be able to get an advantage, at least, but she couldn't figure out how to best do it.

Getting nowhere with her spinning barrage, Ruby flew back. She circled Pyrrha from a safe distance, looking for any kind of opening.

She thought about what Pyrrha would have come to expect from her fighting style. She'd need to do something she hadn't tried, or do something similar to her previous attacks as a feint before catching her off-guard with something new.

 _She said I'm overly reliant on the scythe. I need to think of a way to use that knowledge against her._

Ruby stopped circling. She brought one foot back and brought the scythe blade low and back. Then she pounced.

Dashing at max speed, she charged Pyrrha, standing low and keeping herself small. As she came in near range, she stood up and threw the scythe at Pyrrha's midsection.

Pyrrha, surprised, almost ran on autopilot as she moved her shield to block the massive blade. She didn't have time to react as the high-speed girl smashed into her torso at full force, knocking Pyrrha flat on her back.

Ruby grabbed her scythe and pushed the handle down on Pyrrha's neck. She risked a glance at the monitor. Both were below 50% aura. This had to finish it.

Pyrrha let go of her weapons and grabbed the scythe, pushing it up.

Ruby smiled from ear to ear.

Pyrrha's eyes widened.

 _I got her!_

Using her semblance, Ruby amplified the moment of Pyrrha's small push and flung herself into the air. By the time Pyrrha thought to let go of the scythe, she was in the air.

Then Ruby shot downward.

"Alert. Aura levels reaching below 10% in Pyrrha Nikos."

Ruby picked herself up off Pyrrha and fell down next to her, panting.

Pyrrha pushed herself up. "So… what is your semblance?" she asked.

"I can manipulate my personal velocity and speed. I amplified the speed I went from your push. How's that for a trick!?" Ruby's heart felt like it was pounding a million times a second.

Pyrrha laughed. Ruby joined her.

"You knew I'd try to push you with your scythe, then." Pyrrha sounded impressed.

"You seem to like disarming me, so I made a guess how you'd react."

Pyrrha smiled, standing up and offering Ruby a hand. "Well done, Miss Huntress."

Ruby grinned as she took her friend's hand and pulled herself up.

* * *

 **Negative review on chapter 8, positive on chapter 9. Perfectly balanced, as all things should be. Also, to that reviewer, first, holy hell I've made 10 chapters in two years, god I got lazy, and second, thanks so much for staying with the series for so long, it means a lot.**


	12. Chapter 11: Dusk in the Dawn

"And so I said…" Ruby held back herself from laughing. "Now THAT'S a katana!"

Pyrrha burst out laughing, and Ruby joined her.

They'd been sitting on the bench, cooling off and talking for the past while, just enjoying the time to themselves. They told each other stories and jokes, smiling and laughing to the point their faces hurt.

"Oh my gods, Pyrrha said, wiping at her eye. "That's so immature." She couldn't resist chuckling at the tale, though.

"That's… that's…" Ruby took a deep breath, then broke down into laughter again. "Oh, geez…" She laid back and sighed. "That's probably my favorite story to tell. It's never gotten old."

Pyrrha shook her head as her giggles trailed off.

Ruby checked her scroll. She sighed.

"What time is it?" Pyrrha asked.

"8:30," Ruby replied. "Still got a while to kill."

"Well then…" She pushed herself up and stretched back. "I planned to walk my route for my classes before they started. Care to join?"

"Sure; what classes do you have?"

"Our group has Professor Goodwitch for semblance training, then Professor Port for combat studies, Professor Oobleck for world studies, and finally Professor Ozpin for general studies. I thought it was strange he would be a professor, but given his age I suppose he'd be rather experienced in the field."

"You're kidding me."

"What?" Pyrrha inquired. "Don't tell me…"

"That's OUR exact schedule! Are you serious?" Ruby exclaimed.

Pyrrha giggled. "Guess fate really likes having our teams work together?"

"Huh? What does that mean?"

"Well, you met Jaune after we got off the ship, Ren and Nora met you and Weiss in the forest, and Jaune and I met Yang and Blake in the forest. Then we ran into each other in the hall, and now this. It's almost too much of a coincidence, I'd say."

"Hammer Girl and Knife Guy are on your team? I didn't know that."

The two started heading on their route for the day. "'Hammer Girl and Knife Guy?'"

"I'm bad with names, okay?! Jaune was Vomit Boy at first."

"Um… name the members of your team," Pyrrha suggested.

"Huh? Of course I know them. There's Yang, and… B-Blink－"

"Blake?"

"Yeah that's what I said. And of course, the girl I found, Wy－Wee－Wi－uh… Wiss! Wiss, yup, her."

"Weiss."

"Alright, I get it; stop making fun of me!"

"I wasn't, I swear. I was just wondering if you deemed them with something like "Vomit Boy." It was unexpected to hear the team leade－"

"I AM NOT VOMIT BOY!"

Pyrrha and Ruby turned to the boy shouting from behind them.

"O-oh, hello Jaune," Pyrrha said awkwardly. "I'm sorry, I swear I didn't m－"

"Why are you here, Vomit Boy?" Ruby asked. Pyrrha and Jaune looked at her in shock. "W-what? I-I thought we were calling him that now."

Jaune sighed. "Please just call me Jaune."

"R-right, sorry... Jaune."

"Um. Well. Anyway. Uh… Why are you here, Jaune?" Pyrrha said, attempting to reset the discussion.

"Oh, I was just walking the, uh, the route for school."

"Okay you may have been onto something with the coincidence talk," Ruby admitted to Pyrrha quietly. Pyrrha smiled.

"We were doing the same; care to join?"

"Yeah, sure." Jaune ran up to match the pace of the two. "Ren said he'd seen you guys heading to the train. So are you guys, like, friends?"

"I just ran into her as I was going to the training area. I invited her to join. We did some battles against each other. She got me pretty good in the last match."

"Wait, so you like, duked it out?"

"I wouldn't put it that way, but I suppose it's accurate…"

"And, Ruby, you beat her?"

"Why? Is it that surprising?" She muttered.

"Remember Jaune hasn't seen you fight yet. He doesn't know how you and I measure up; however that was still rude, Jaune."

"Oh, sorry; I didn't mean it like that."

Ruby felt her face flush. She looked away from them. "Yeah, sure."

"Ahem." Pyrrha attempted to reset the discussion. "So this is Glynda's classroom. Easy enough to remember."

"I mean there's a giant sign above it," Jaune pointed.

Pyrrha glanced at the sign. "If that's your definition of giant, I'd hate to see your definition of small."

Ruby suddenly tripled her pace. "N-next class!"

Pyrrha and Jaune stared at her in confusion.

* * *

The three walked the path to their classes in relative peace and quiet, with Ruby mostly reverting to her typical quiet self as Jaune and Pyrrha made small talk.

Their route wasn't especially long after reaching the first class, however the classrooms were in a different area of the school than the dorms and dining hall, so they agreed they should probably spare some time for walking after getting breakfast.

By the time they finished their route and walked to the dining hall, breakfast was about to be served.

Breakfast was served in a buffet style, with an excessive variety. Ruby and Jaune mostly took sweeter things, but Pyrrha wouldn't let Jaune take so many, and forced him to take more nutritious foods, much to his chagrin. Oddly, she didn't mention it to Ruby.

Ruby didn't even think about her team and where they were until Yang sat next to her as she ate with Jaune and Pyrrha.

"I thought you were a late sleeper," she said with a distracting level of volume.

"Guess not," Ruby replied between bites.

Yang, less than interested to try to engage in conversation with the introvert beside her, looked to Pyrrha and Jaune.

"Have you guys been keeping her company or something?" she asked with a mouthful of food.

"I suppose you could say that. I saw Ruby earlier and invited her to train with me. We had a fun time with that, then ran into Jaune as we walked our route for our classes."

"Did she kick your ass?" Yang asked her.

"I suppose so."

"Making a name for yourself before I could, huh?" Yang asked her sister.

"No one there," she said simply.

"Where is the training area anyway?"

Ruby grabbed her sister's scroll and searched the map app momentarily.

"There." She handed back the scroll with the training arena she had been at highlighted.

"Sweet, thanks."

"Say, where are your teammates?" Pyrrha asked Yang.

"Blake was reading, Weiss… couldn't figure out how to do the buffet and went back to the dorm. As "rich girl" as someone can get, I'd say. Bet she's waiting for a butler. What about you guys?"

Pyrrha looked at Jaune. He finished chewing and said, "Ren was sitting with his eyes closed, Nora was sleeping. He said she'd wake up once she smelled fo－"

A massive tray of food crashed down next to Jaune. A very small, light tray of food was set down gently next to it.

"You guys didn't get NEARLY enough food for our first day!" Nora exclaimed.

"You just got too much," Ren muttered.

Nora began to inhale her food at inhuman speeds.

"Um, Ren. Does she usually eat that much?"

Ren looked at the stack of food. "Pretty average."

The rest of the table looked on in shock and terror.

"The hell is that girl's metabolism?!" Yang questioned the world.

"I do not know," Ren answered.

* * *

Class 1, Semblance training with Professor Goodwitch.

The class consisted of three teams; RWBY, JNPR, and not main characters.

The class began with the students lining up in front of a device. It was a large rectangular box with slots for hands to go in. Glynda instructed them to project their aura into the box once they put their hands in.

Yang went first.

"Analyzing…" a robotic voice spoke. "Complete. Please take dispensed card."

A card printed out on top of the device, which Yang took before heading to her assigned seat.

The card appeared to be a school ID. It showed an image of their face, their name, their aura capacity compared to the average, and their semblance name. The back contained a full description of the semblance. Yang's was "Revenge." Blake was "Shadow Clone," Weiss's was "Schnee Glyphs."

Pyrrha's was "Polar," Ren's was "Nullify," Nora's was "Thunderstrike," and Jaune received only a reminder that he had nothing yet.

Ruby was one of the last in line. The machine seemed to glitch as she first did it. The text for her semblance was illegible. Glynda tossed the faulty card and told her to try again. It seemed to work after that. Ruby's was called "Zoom."

After the class all took their seats, Glynda began her lecture. It was the first day, so it was mostly the basic stuff.

Every human is capable of manifesting a semblance, it's often fitting to the personality of the user, the variety of semblance is so great it's unknown how many there are, blah blah blah.

After a very boring 50 minutes, Glynda told them to learn the semblances of their team, and class would be over.

"I'm sure you already know, but I have the Schnee family glyphs as my semblance," Weiss declared in a tone that radiated rich girl energy.

"Yeah, whatever," Blake said. Before Weiss could even voice her fury at the apathetic comment, Blake continued. "I can create a clone in my current position; it pushes me in the opposite direction it spawns from, so I can use it for mobility. They can't usually take much impact, and I can use dust with them."

Since she seemed done, Yang started, "I can take the damage my aura's taken and dish it all back in double with an unstoppable barrage!" She punched her fists together as she finished.

The three glanced at Ruby, who had hesitated to start. She cast her eyes down and mumbled, "I can manipulate my velocity."

The task finished, the four made their way to the next class; Ruby and Blake keeping to themselves, Weiss ignoring them, and Yang just being lost in a sea of introversion.

* * *

"Now then!" Professor Port shouted in the area-like classroom. "For today, you need to learn what your teammates fight like! Show each other your weapons and explain your personal style!"

Yang tapped on yellow wristbands, unfolding into their full form, a gauntlet-like device covering most of her forearm, with a barrel poking out on top. "These little suckers are the Ember Celica! They reduce the strain on my arms when I punch and can shoot fire dust-laced shotgun shells, like a wave of fire."

"You use just your fist to fight Grimm?" Weiss asked. "There's no way such a savage fighting style could be effective against them."

"Huh? Savage?! Like hell it's savage; it's just more personal. You don't need to be rich and refined to fight Grimm, Princess."

"I'm not a princess, I'm a－"

"Daughter to a bastard of a CEO who runs a corrupt business model, yes, we know," Blake interrupted, only increasing Weiss's seething rage.

"What do you mean, corrupt?! You're talking about the man who supplies the entire world with dust!"

"Oh please, stroke his ego more why don't you?" Blake told her.

Weiss may as well have had steam coming out of her ears at this point. She was gritting her teeth so hard it hurt.

"Is something wrong over here?" Professor Port had come up to them without them realizing.

"Oh! Uh, nothing, sir!" Yang forced a smile.

"Hm. If there's a problem, make sure you tell me; best for teammates to get along as best they can."

He walked off, monitoring the other groups who had already begun to show off their fighting styles.

Blake watched him leave in silence. She took her sword out of the sheath on her back, then grabbed the sheath itself with her other hand. "My sword, Gambol Shroud. I attach it to the ribbon on my arm so it can be thrown and pulled back. It has a pistol-like gun in the hilt. It can fold into a more gunlike form, as well. And the sheath is bladed."

She placed the weapon back.

Weiss whipped out a rapier in a speedy, yet elegant, fashion. "Myrtenaster, a rapier with dust infusion slots." She placed the sword back in its sheath.

"Um, I have this." Ruby detached the gun from her hip and expanded it into its scythe form. Blake was noticeably taken aback by the sudden appearance of the massive weapon. "Called… Crescent Rose. Has sniper features, can use dust bullets." She placed the weapon back.

The four stood in silence for a few moments.

Port called out suddenly. "Alright, Huntsmen, gather up!"

As the four teams gathered around, he continued. "Now then, you seem like you all at least showed your weapons, so let's get to the fun part! Person Vs. Person combat! Or, I suppose, Team Vs. Team! Team RWBY, you'll be sparring with Team JNPR, and Team SNOW will be with Team OCEN. Now let's see some action! But no bloodshed! Watch your auras!"

Ruby took a moment to process that. She'd have to fight… with those three? Against Pyrrha? And Jaune?"

 _You know, kiddo, my time at that school was like the dawn. It was when I really started my journey, y'know?_

Uncle Qrow once said that to Ruby about Beacon.

She grit her teeth.

Almost everything so far made it feel more like the end of an enjoyable life for her. More like dusk than dawn.


End file.
